


The Shape of Dreams

by waterlinkedgirl



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Harry Potter style slice of life, M/M, the rating's gonna go up in later chapters because of the nature of the fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-03-09 01:07:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterlinkedgirl/pseuds/waterlinkedgirl
Summary: In order for Shiraishi’s father to steal a magical artefact in the basement of a school, the two Incubi Shiraishi and Sengoku are commanded to charm the people inside of it. Except, it doesn’t quite go as planned as Kirihara, a human, and Yukimura, an Angel, get involved and mess up their dreams.The four of them are scouted by Nanjiroh for a magical academy, where Yukimura struggles with his roommates and with adjusting to his new lifestyle.





	1. Prelude to a Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MidnightFragments](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightFragments/gifts).



"Guess there was a use to you falling for men, after all."  
His friend mischievously twirled his tail, a smirk broad on his face.

"Sengoku!"  
Shiraishi exasperatedly folded his arms over each other, slightly embarrassed. "Cut it out, will you?"  
"Now, now, that's no way to talk to your friend now, is it?"

Shiraishi sighed, lowering his wings. True, he and Sengoku had been friends for quite a long time, but his sexuality had nothing to do with this.  
...Maybe it did, a little. His father picked the two of them for a reason, after all, and it wasn't just because they knew each other well.

"Honestly," Sengoku said, folding his arms to the back of his head, "I have no idea why we're supposed to charm the entire school on this weird Shyamalan of a buttache mission, but I can sort of see why you had to drag me along."  
"Well, I'm sorry for dragging you along on this 'weird Shyamalan of a buttache mission', you know, but I don't know what my father's plotting either. If he's involving us, though, there's no doubt there's no drop of good involved and he's counting on me to clear up the mess afterwards."  
Shiraishi put on a sour face.

"Watch out, or you're gonna make that old man of yours go bald."  
"I know, I know."  
"...Not that I wouldn't pay for that to happen, but I'd really feel sorry for you having to put up with that as well."  
"If it's him, I'm sure he'll turn balding men into the latest hot item."  
"That's right..." Sengoku sighed, defeated. Shiraishi's father wasn't King of the Incubi without reason, after all.

"What was that about me losing my hair?"  
The two startled as Osamu suddenly put his hands on their shoulders.

"Fa-Father..."  
"Don't worry, if you handle your assignment properly I won't remember a word of what you said... maybe."

Osamu squeezed his shoulder somewhat threateningly.  
"It's somewhat important this time, Shiraishi, Sengoku.  
You see, there's a magical artefact in a hidden room in the basement of this school."  
"And you're gonna steal it," Shiraishi interjected.  
"I'm gonna take it," Osamu corrected him, "Just gotta go around the security for a bit."  
"That's totally stealing."  
"Not if it isn't supposed to be there anyway."

Within a moment, the three of them found themselves in front of a rather old school building.  
Osamu let his shoulder go, and started walking to the entrance, changing into human form as he opened the door.  
Shiraishi braced himself for the alarm, before he realized Osamu had magically suppressed it, and sighed in relief.

"So I'm counting on you two to keep everyone busy while I take it."

"Yes, father."  
"Yes, King."

* * *

  


Sneaking through the halls of the nightly school building, Kirihara smirked.  
Nobody would catch him this time.  
Today was the day he'd learn the secret of the treasure hidden in the depths of the school's basement.  
He'd heard a bunch of rumours about it. Some said it was a lost art piece from some sort of painter, other said it was the golden sword from King Arthur, and there were even those that said it was the final resting place of some weird pharaoh from times lost.  
But those weren't too interesting.  
He secretly hoped to find an invitation letter to Hogwarts (even though he was already graduating from high school) or a genie lamp, or a dragon's egg.

If it was real? It had to be! After all, there was no way the teachers would be telling him there was nothing if there really was nothing.  
He ran from corridor to corridor, looking around the corners each time to make sure his path was free.

He descended the stairs to the basement. Last time he tried sneaking into the basement, he was caught by a night patrol, so he was being extra careful.  
Before long, he found himself standing in front of an armoured door, heart pounding in his chest.  
He had never come this far.

A sudden wave of dizziness came over him, and for a moment, he really felt like falling asleep.  
No, no, no!  
He fervently shook his head and slapped his cheeks. He was not gonna black out and get found, no way.  
Kirihara walked to the door, and much to his dismay, saw there was a password panel next to it.  
"Shit..."

He wasn't gonna give up, though. He might not know the password, but maybe...  
Walking as far from the door as he could, he took a breath.  
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

He strained his legs and took a mighty sprint to the door. He was ready to ram in the door by brute force, when he noticed the door was actually unlocked.  
Heeling the brakes, he managed to only burst through the door with the power of 10 Falcon Punches, instead of the 100 he started with.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

He was in!  
Kirihara scrambled to his feet and looked around.  
The basement seemed a lot like a maze, which meant there was definitely something shady hidden inside.  
He walked to the door on his right and pulled it. No budge.  
The open door on his left, however...

A cakewalk. He followed the trail of open doors to which would probably be the hidden room in the basement.  
"Hehe~, I'm so lucky~"  
Though, with all the progress he was making, he started to wonder.  
"Heeeey! Isn't anyone gonna come after meeee?"

The silence he got was very suspicious. Someone had been there before him, probably. Crap, what if they stole the letter before him?!  
Kirihara started running, dashing through the corridors. He couldn't let them get away! After all, he was the one who deserved the treasure the most!

Thinking those things, he almost didn't notice when he tripped over a body.

"Guahh!"  
He did notice the landing, however, as he heroically Falcon Punched the wall with his body.  
"What the heck...?!" he exclaimed.  
There really was a body on the floor. Kirihara got to his feet, again, and started poking the body with his foot.  
A groan. The security guy was still alive.  
Kirihara set a step backwards. Can't wake him up now, not when he's come so far.

The guy groaned again, and Kirihara decided that, from the perverted blush the guy was bearing, he'd rather not interfere.

So he backed off-- or rather, walked on, away from the perverted security guard sleeping on job, and onto the way to the dragon's egg.  
There were a few more of these guys, sprawled on the floor and he jumped over all of them with the grace of a gazelle.

The halls were getting dustier, so he had to be close. And yes, when he opened the final door--

Everything suddenly went white.

* * *

  


"Yes, father."

Well then, he guessed it was about time to get started.

Shiraishi closed his eyes, focused on the conscious of the beings in the school.  
As an Incubus, he had the power to influence people's dreams, and he was to use that to keep the guards on duty off duty.  
He and Sengoku weren't the most powerful Incubi, as there was much more power to be gained from one on one interactions, but...  
Because Shiraishi could never bring himself to try to seduce a single person, as he disliked being hit on, himself, he had gained a proficiency for large-scale dreams.  
Sengoku, on the other hand, never seemed to be able to seduce a girl on her own, no matter how hard he tried.

As a result, the two of them were the candidates most fit for Osamu's purpose.

Shiraishi's eyes grew violet as he opened his dream, connecting it to the conscious of all the men in the school.

The ever familiar white opened up before him, and the never-familiar sprite before him he fixed to a chair.  
This is what made dreams easier. There was no distinguishable face to him, which was, to be honest, only a little bit comforting. He had a bit of control over the dream itself, so to avoid needless complications, he usually restricted the movements of the sprite enough that no significant deviations would occur.  
The subconscious of the people he caught in his dreams filled Shiraishi's shape in, making him appear as their crush, their lover, or simply their type.  
It wasn't a lot different from a regular dream.

He smiled. Sengoku would be opening his dream a few moments from now, though everything would still go according to plan. Sengoku always took a bit longer, as he wanted to gather bits of information first.

"Well then," he whispered, "let's get started, shall we?"  
He smirked as he unbuttoned his shirt, slowly, and the occasional gasp or swallow told him he was rather successful. When he reached the last button, he briefly let his hands slide over his hips, before tracing his fingers upwards, over his well-toned abs, over his chest.  
He didn't mind being the woman, as it was, in fact, inevitable, but he liked to show off his body. He secretly hoped at least one of the guys had a thing for a bit of fit muscles.  
He chuckled, let his shirt slide off his shoulders.  
It disappeared rather quickly into the white when Shiraishi made his way over to the chair, climbed onto the sprite's lap, his legs on both sides.  
With teasing hips he moved closer, skin against skin, breaths mingling. He traced their jawline with his fingers, before lifting their chin.  
He leaned in for a kiss.

An otherworldly chuckle rang through his dream, when he felt a warm but firm hand catch his face.  
"What do you think you're doing?"

Blue eyes, piercing eyes caught his gaze.  
A smirk, accentuated by blue locks falling alongside.  
White wings.

In an instant, he felt his dream collapse, leaving only the owner of those hauntingly blue eyes in front of him.

"You're too close."  
Shiraishi practically startled off his lap, nearly sprained his wing.  
"A-ah..." Shiraishi stammered, earning him a questioning head-tilt. He stood up to bow down. "Aaah!! I'm so sorry! I didn't... I mean, I did but, you... I..."  
"You're not making any sense right now, you know that?" Blue eyes folded his legs and arms.  
"How did you wake up? What happened?" Shiraishi straightened his back and finally managed to get something coherent out.  
"Who knows."  
"What do you mean, who knows?"  
"I mean it just as I said. Somehow, I feel...  
like I've been sleeping forever. Though, if this had to be the way I wake up, I'd have slept a while longer."  
"Not that you're actually awake right now, but..."

Blue eyes widened.  
"...Oh."  
"Wait, you didn't know?! The endless white is kind of a dead give-away?"  
"I'm an Angel, I'm rather used to endless white. You're an Incubus, judging from your tail and the fact you tried to seduce me hardly a minute ago."

Shiraishi cried internally. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for you to wake up..."  
"Well, you failed."  
Shiraishi whispered. "You think I don't know that."

Blue eyes ruffled his wings for a bit.  
No, he can't forever think of him as 'blue eyes'.  
"What's your name?" Shiraishi asked.  
"Head of the First Aqua Choir, Archangel, Bringer of--"  
"Nonono, I don't need all the formalities, I just want your name."  
"My name's Yukimura Seiichi. Yours?"

Shiraishi smiled.  
"Shiraishi. Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Nice to meet you."  
"...And? What now?"

Suddenly Shiraishi remembered.  
"Argh! I was supposed to keep the guards busy while Osamu steals the thing!"  
"Not only a Demon, but a thief, too."  
"I can't help it if my father has something important to do! Even if it's stealing a magical artefact."  
"Why?"

Shiraishi thought a bit.  
"...For all of the shitty things he does, most of them end up getting a good result, some way or another. Plus, I can't really defy him... Not even if he makes me clean up the mess he makes, without fail, every. single. time."  
Yukimura reached over to pat him on the shoulder.  
"There, there."

Shiraishi sighed.  
"I suppose I should check up on him."  
"You're breaking the dream?"  
"It's kinda hard to check up on him if I'm not there, you know?"  
"...Will I fall asleep again?"  
"Most likely. Don't worry, you'll wake up again."  
"...I sure hope so."  
"Then, good night, Yukimura."

There was the faintest light of a smile on Yukimura's face.  
"Good night, Shiraishi."

* * *

  


All Kirihara saw before him was white, endless endless white.  
"What the hell?"

"I hardly think hell's got anything to do with-- Wait."  
A voice. Kirihara turned around to see a bright orange curl, the face under it about as astonished as he was.  
"You're not a girl!  
"Of course I'm not! Do I look like one?!" 

Kirihara took a better look at orange curl.  
"You're a vampire? Cool!"  
"A... A vampire?"  
"Yeah, 'cause you got these fancy wings?"  
"Ah... ahaha. I'm not a Vampire though. Those are the Demons of envy, and I'm not one of those."  
"Then what are you?"

The non-vampire lifted Kirihara's chin.  
"I'll tell you when you're older <3"  
Kirihara moved away.  
"Not fair! I'm 18, you know!"  
"You don't look 18."  
"Well sorry for having a cute face!"

Orange curl laughed.  
"I'm an Incubus," he said.  
"...An incu-what?"  
"A Demon of lust, ruler of dreams. You know, these kinds that show up in dreams to have sex with you?"

Kirihara quickly turned red.  
"Oh. Are you here to have sex with m--"  
"Noooooooo!"  
"But you fall for--"  
"Girls."  
"So this dream's meant for--"  
"Girls."  
"And I'm--"  
"Not a girl."  
"Then what are you doing here?!"  
"That's what I'd like to ask you! You were supposed to get caught in Shiraishi's dream!"

Kirihara remembered the unconscious guards.  
"Wait, so this isn't a dream?"  
"It is?"  
"But the guards outside are..."  
"Are currently caught in Shiraishi's dream."  
"...This is really happening?"  
"You bet."

Kirihara had to take a moment to set everything straight. So.  
Demons exist, vampires exist, there are Incubus things, and now...  
"Am I stuck here?"  
"Actually," the demon said, his tail swishing low, "I'm the one who's stuck."  
"Huh?"

The demon nervously swept his tail.  
"I have no idea how you're doing it, curly-hair, but I can't break the dream. Like, at all. I'm quite a bit panicking here, actually, this has never happened before.  
Ah, let me set something straight, what's your name?"  
"Kirihara Akaya."  
"Sengoku Kiyosumi."  
A normal name. Huh.

"I thought a demon's name was supposed to be more badass?"  
"Well sorry for having a normal name! Anyway, can you release me? I was supposed to charm the girls, but that's impossible if you keep me here."  
"I... have no idea? I was just running through the basement and suddenly everything went white and then I was here."  
Sengoku facepalmed.  
"We're stuck. I'm stuck with a human boy that trapped me in my dream and has no idea how to lift it."  
"Weren't dreams supposed to be your thing? How do you do it, then?"  
"I guess... I just think about waking up, but for all people in the dream.  
Wait, maybe....  
Can you try it?"

Kirihara had the talent of being able to sleep whenever he wanted, but he'd never been able to try it on waking up.  
"I'm gonna try it."  
"Please don't mess it up, I don't want to know what happens if it goes wrong."  
"Yes sir!"

Kirihara closed his eyes and focused on waking up. Wait, Sengoku said something about waking him up as well, didn't he? How was he supposed to do that?  
For now, he visualized himself as Sengoku, with the same waking up as he was trying to get himself to do.

One moment, he felt as if he was falling, and falling together with Sengoku.

And really slowly, he opened his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Shiraishi found himself in a vaguely church-like room, filled with odd equipment equally magical as mechanical, flow of magic stationary.

"Ah, you're here."  
"Father... This is the hidden room in the basement?"  
"Yep."  
"And that magical object is..."

Osamu pointed to something looking a suspicious lot like a casket.  
"In here."

Shiraishi felt a distinct Holy signature.  
"But that's...!"  
"An Angel, yes. It's been in here since the founding of the school, maybe even before that. I'm gonna take its power."  
"You can't do that!" Shiraishi shouted, surprising Osamu.

"Why not?   
"He's alive."  
"The Angel's been in a coma for over 700 years, boy. That's about the same as dying."  
"He's... not."  
"He is. And, why do you keep implying it's a dude?"  
"I met him. He really really messed up my dream, and suddenly I was here."

Osamu fell very, very silent.

"...His name is Yukimura. His eyes and hair are both blue, and his hair is really wavy, reaches to slightly past his chin. He has white wings, and I think he said he was... an Archangel? I'm not really sure, he had a lot of titles..."

Osamu promptly dropped his cigarette.  
"Yukimura, huh..." he whispered.

"Anyway, I kind of told him he'd wake up, but..."  
700 years... Yukimura's been out for over 700 years...

"It's useless, Shiraishi."  
A hand on his shoulder. "Even if you talked to him, that was likely the last bit of his power. I don't think it'll happen again."

Regret. Regret made its way through his body, festering in his chest and in his throat. If he'd known this, he'd have talked a bit longer. He wouldn't have left him alone to sleep once again for who knows how long.  
He'd have...

Shiraishi bit his lip.

"Lemmegolemmegolemmegolemmego!"  
Sengoku came in, a curly-haired boy in his hand and sufficiently off the ground.

"Not gonna let you go here! You're not gonna poke the guards and wake them up again! Do you know how much trouble it is to knock them out before they see anything?"  
"I won't do it agaiiiin, please let me gooooo!"

"Guys can't you read the mood a little?"  
Osamu scratched the inside of his ear.

"......"

"And? Why did you bring this kid, after failing to charm the ladies? You know how many I had to personally white out?"  
"I got stuck."  
"Well lucky for you, the count was only three, so I'm not gonna be too-- Wait, stuck?"  
"I have no idea how it happened, but instead of the girls getting caught in my dream, I got stuck in curly boy's. He's not even a girl..."  
"It's Kirihara, Kirihara Akaya!"

Osamu sighed. "You know that's not supposed to happen, right, Sengoku?"  
"And," Sengoku dropped Kirihara, "that's exactly why I brought him here."

Osamu walked over to him. "Are you sure he's really just a human?"  
He took Kirihara's face in his hand and moved it from side to side, inspecting it from every angle.

Shiraishi, meanwhile, walked over to the casket. Through its glass encasing, he saw Yukimura's shape, as if he were just sleeping.  
His hair and skin were paler than Shiraishi saw in his dream, his body entangled in life support cords, and he looked almost vulnerable.

"That's why I said, I'm not really anything wei-- Don't take my shirt off, hey!!"

Shiraishi turned around. "Osamu, don't molest the kid."  
"I'm just inspecting him, no biggie."  
"Like hell you are!" Kirihara shouted, "Besides, that's my hair, you know!"  
Osamu twirled one of Kirihara's locks between his fingers. "You never know. Maybe there are snakes in there. Maybe he's a rare male Medusa, or--"

The sound of breaking glass.  
"You're pretty--" Shiraishi looked around, startled by the sudden sound.  
"--loud, aren't you..."

Blue eyes.   
Various cords fell to the floor, an exhale, and with rustling feathers and an unsteady foot Yukimura heaved himself upright to stand.

"Yukimura...!"  
Shiraishi pulled the staggering Angel into a hug. "I'm so glad you woke up!"

"If I knew it was going to be like this, I'd have slept a little longer. You're too close, Shiraishi," Yukimura said, voice soft.  
"Sorry! I just..."  
Shiraishi let go of Yukimura, slowly enough to make sure he could stand.

Yukimura put a hand to his forehead.  
"You talked about your father needing to steal a magical artefact... Why are you here...?  
No, where am I?"

"Actually, I came here to steal you," Osamu said. Yukimura gave him a rather incredulous stare.  
"'Steal' me. I was walking through one of st. Rinko's churches, when I apparently suddenly blacked out, and moments later a bunch of Incubi, of all things, is trying to 'steal' me in a place I don't know. I can't think of this as anything else but an elaborate joke."  
"Listen, what was it, Yukimura? I have no idea what happened to you or why you're here, but fact is, you've been out for over seven centuries. Might want to reconsider this being a joke."  
"...And now you're telling me this?"

Yukimura was saying that, but his wings vaguely trembled.

"Look around you. Does this look like a room humans of your era could have built? What more do I have to say to prove it to you?"

The shivering in his wings worsened, and Yukimura bit his lip. Shiraishi was sure Yukimura was trying to convince himself of the truth.

"You've kind of been considered an artifact, you know? I thought you were, too. I happened to know when this school here was founded, and judging from the age of the seal on the door, this room with you on it has been largely untouched since then. A preserved Angel, in a coma for over 700 years... Anyone would doubt you'd ever wake up."

Yukimura sat down at the edge of the casket,   
"If this is real..." Yukimura's voice trembled as he spoke, "...what year is it now?"  
"2512 New Era, on your calendar."

Yukimura fell silent, fighting off the disbelief shaking his wings, closed his eyes.

"Alright, alright, let's interrupt this here," a voice called from seemingly nowhere.  
"Great, more nuisances in my ingenious plan," Osamu mumbled.  
"Now, now, Osamu-chan. Don't be so cold towards an old friend."

A man stepped forward from the shade, robes hanging loosely around his body.  
"Nanji?"  
"Yeah, it's me."  
"It's really you. Haven't aged a bit since last time we met," Osamu laughed.  
"Of course. After all, I'm a fountain of youth."  
"Like hell you are."  
The two laughed.

"They're just like two old geezers," Kirihara whispered to Sengoku.  
"Ssh, don't let them hear," Sengoku whispered back, "that guy isn't very fond of being called old."

"And," Yukimura asked, "who might this rather sleazy-looking gentleman be?"

The man called Nanji cleared his throat.

"Actually, I'm Echizen Nanjiroh, the headmaster of the one and only Magical Academy--"  
"Never heard of it," Shiraishi interjected.  
"--and I've come to scout the four of you. 'know the timescale's rather short, but please consider our humble and fun lessons."  
"Four?" Kirihara asked.  
"You, the two Incubi, and the Angel."

Kirihara's eyes started to sparkle.  
"Wait, why is the kid also selected?" Osamu asked.  
"Potential."  
"You know that potential means nothing if he can't use it," Osamu said.  
"Oh, but he did just now, didn't he? Can't bind an Incubus in a dream and get them out of it without using magic."

"Wait. I can grasp the reason why the other three would be selected, but why do I, too, have to come?" Yukimura asked.  
"Why wouldn't you?"  
"I'm an Angel. I should be more powerful than any of you present."  
"Then beat me. I'll let you free if you win."  
"Sure."

Yukimura heaved himself upright, and Shiraishi heard the static magic rippling from Yukimura's body.  
He decided he'd rather not be too near, and nudged towards Sengoku to make way as well.

"Don't worry too much, lad."  
Nanjiroh threw a barrier around him and Yukimura. "You won't feel much of it."

"That statement's for Shiraishi, right?"  
"For both of you," Nanjiroh smirked. "Now, as a special service, I'll let you start."  
"Don't regret it, old man."

Yukimura raised his arm, as to gather that crackling aura coursing across his body, Holy energy gathering in the palm of his hand like metal to a magnet. Shiraishi could feel the heat, leaking through the barrier.  
Yukimura briefly braced his wings as he aimed and released.  
Shiraishi's vision went white as Yukimura's attack landed, but strangely enough, his eyes didn't hurt.  
He wouldn't want to know how it was to get hit by something like that.

"Pretty good, pretty good."  
Much to Shiraishi's surprise, Nanjiroh came out virtually unscathed.  
Yukimura gave him no time to regain himself, pulled his arms as if to shoot an arrow, and launched a few slightly smaller attacks from the bow of light that formed. As they landed, Shiraishi could see something like a bubble around Nanjiroh, bulging under the impacts.

"So you've realized I put up a barrier, and you're now trying to break it."  
"Of course."  
Yukimura sent another arrow after him, this one with a bit more power. Shiraishi could see drops of sweat forming on Yukimura's forehead.

"Except it isn't breaking, is it, lad?"

Another flash of light, and when it faded, Shiraishi saw a glowing Yukimura in a golden armour, the shining sword in his hand miraculously held in place by Nanjiroh's protective barrier as Yukimura attempted to break it by brute force.  
Yet even as sparks erupted from the contact, it didn't budge.  
Yukimura swung his sword again, again, again, slowly getting more and more out of breath.  
"Impressed?" Nanjiroh asked.  
"As if... something like this... could impress me..." 

A slash, followed up by a blindingly powerful strike. Shiraishi could hear Yukimura's breath, ragged by effort, as he struck the barrier with the power of a small star.  
Yukimura's sword sizzled in the afterglow of that mighty blow, before breaking down to pure energy aimed at the barrier.

And finally, the barrier broke.

"That's it, lad. Can't let you go any further."  
Nanjiroh caught Yukimura as he collapsed on the spot, armour dispelling immediately.

"I'm not... done..."  
An aura vaguely gathered around Yukimura, before flickering out.  
"Had I decided to attack, you wouldn't even have lasted three seconds."  
Yukimura clicked his tongue.

"And, because you lost, I'll be taking you with me."  
Yukimura sighed, trying to catch his breath.   
"Fine..."

"And?" Nanjiroh asked, "Are you all convinced now?"  
"I was planning on coming anyway," Sengoku said.  
"A-Amazing..." Kirihara whispered.  
"I'll take that as a yes," Nanjiroh said.

"Father?"  
"Sure, go."

"Then, I'll give you a day to gather your luggage.  
Kirihara, I'll send a letter to your family of your admission to a high-end live-in university, I'm sure they'll be happy.  
I'll send you guys there at midnight, so don't be doing anything weird, Sengoku, Shiraishi."  
"We won't, we won't," Sengoku said.  
"And, Yukimura..."

Yukimura was still panting, trying to regain his breath.

"...you're heavy. Can you stand?"  
"Who... do you think I am..."  
"An idiot who overexerts himself even though he's low on power."  
"To be honest..." Yukimura brought his legs to work again, "you should have been vanquished at that first blow."  
Nanjiroh smirked. "Never underestimate a simple barrier. Gonna have you stay here 'till midnight, though, can't risk getting you caught."

"Hey, hey," Kirihara started, "how do you know our names?"  
Nanjiroh shrugged. "What can I say, trader's secret."

"Well then, everyone. Books will be provided, as well as other necessary stuff, and there's some sort of shop as well, case you need more stuff.   
See ya there! We'll talk again, Osamu-chan~"  
"Sure, Nanji."  
And just as easily as Nanjiroh appeared, he disappeared.

"Then, Kirihara, hurry up and pack your stuff. Won't want security to wake up again," Osamu said.  
Kirihara was practically bouncing with excitement. "Sure!"

"Then, Shiraishi, Sengoku. Let's go as well."  
"Yes, father."  
"Yes, sir."

Shiraishi looked around at Yukimura, who had taken place on top of the casket again.  
Shiraishi smiled, waved. "See you again, Yukimura."

He got half a half-hearted wave back, before the door closed and Osamu redid the seal.

* * *

"What do you mean, I have to share a room with them?"  
Shiraishi watched as Yukimura flared his wings and flared out against Nanjiroh.

"Just as I mean it. Scouted you as four, gotta group as four, too."  
"Can't you arrange anything?! Surely this can't be the last room left?"  
"I can't. And I won't let you leave the Academy over something as simple as this."  
"I can live with a human, sure, but-- But they're Demons! No, not just Demons, Incubi!"  
"So?"  
Yukimura folded his arms together.  
"...Don't make me spell it out for you."  
"I don't really see the problem."  
"Listen, I don't want to be here at night when those two have intercourse with someone. And I don't want to be here during the day and share a classroom with them, knowing they... Ugh. Understand?"

Shiraishi stepped forward, raising his tail.  
"That hurts a bit, you know? True, Incubi like Sengoku and me get their power from having intercourse, but there are other ways."  
"This idiot here can't even hit on anyone," Sengoku said, poking Shiraishi in the side, "he's been relying on dreams his entire adult life."  
"Sengoku, don't bring that up...!" Shiraishi hid his face behind his hand. "It's embarrassing..."  
"And besides," Sengoku turned to Yukimura, "I can still go for a long while without anything. It's one of the perks of being slightly less powerful and more successful with the ladies."  
"Even though you've never been able to take one home," Shiraishi interjected.  
Sengoku looked away, face red.

"Actually," Nanjiroh said, "I've been meaning to talk to you two about that dream thing."  
"I already told you I don't need much, I can get by on the occasional kiss," Sengoku said, "...though I don't doubt Shiraishi's gonna be a problem."  
Shiraishi put his hand behind his head.  
"I'm gonna need to restrict you on your dreams. It wouldn't be very good if the whole school couldn't attend the first few hours because they woke up with wet pants, now, would it?"  
"It wouldn't," Shiraishi admitted. "I think I could live on less... although there's no doubt it's gonna be a bit difficult."  
"If I see anything well over regular... you're gonna have to be prepared for the consequences."  
"Yes, headmaster."  
"And, Sengoku..."  
"Yes?"  
"Don't go breaking too many girl's hearts."  
Shiraishi laughed. "Even though it's his heart that's gonna be broken."  
"Shut up, Shiraishi...!"  
They laughed.

"Can I request something, headmaster? If either of these two lay a finger on any girl in this room, please kick them out."  
"A bit harsh, but sure."  
"...Thank you."  
And, as Nanjiroh made his way out of the room, "You're free to rearrange the room as you want. Seems like Kirihara there already found a bed to sleep. See you at 9 tomorrow morning."

The three of them looked over to Kirihara, who was now sleeping soundly in the bottom bed.

"Sleep well," and Nanjiroh closed the door.

The three were silent for a few seconds, before Yukimura started speaking:  
"I'll take the bed above Kirihara. You'll figure things out between the two of you."  
Yukimura beat his wings and landed gracefully on the top bunk.

"Still with the poor attitude, I see," Sengoku muttered.  
"Excuse me? I am the Angel being roomed here with two good-for-nothing Incubi?"  
"You want us to be good?"  
"...No, but--"  
"Then don't take that attitude. Otherwise Shiraishi here's gonna be a 'good' Incubus, specially to you."  
"Sengoku! No! Don't listen to what he's saying Yukimura, I would never do that...!"  
"I have my doubts... especially as you're undressing right now."

"I'm just going to sleep? Already brushed my teeth before coming, anyway." Shiraishi said as he pulled off his shirt, neatly folding it, and Sengoku threw his over the edge of the upper bunk.  
"Nightwear?"  
"There's no need for that if you're going under the blankets anyway."  
"Please, at least put something on."  
Sengoku interjected "Hey, it's not up to you to decide what we wea--"  
Shiraishi put his hand on Sengoku's shoulder. "Sengoku."  
"What--"  
Shiraishi shook his head, then turned to Yukimura. "Yukimura, are you uncomfortable when we sleep naked?"  
"Yes," was the simple answer.  
"Then, we'll be putting on pyjamas. But promise me that in return, you'll lose some of that arrogance you have towards us, as, you know, nobody likes being bossed around. We'll be living together, after all."

Yukimura looked rather surprised at Shiraishi's resoluteness.  
"...You're right. I'll try. And," an inkling of a smile, "thank you for your consideration."  
Shiraishi gave him a cordial smile. "You're welcome."

And a fraction of a second later, Shiraishi was wearing green pyjamas, joined by Sengoku in blue.  
"You can do that?" Yukimura asked.  
"It's a basic skill for all Incubi, though taking them off still has to be done manually."  
Yukimura gave him an amused hum.

"I'll be putting out the lights," Shiraishi said, putting his hand on the light switch on the wall near his bed. "Don't want to wake up too tired. See you tomorrow, Yukimura."  
"See you tomorrow."

And as the lights went out, Sengoku made his way to the upper bunk. "Night, Shiraishi."  
"Night, Sengoku."

And there was no further sound, apart from Kirihara sleeping soundly.


	3. Luggage

Yukimura watched the sun rise from behind the curtains of the window, dangling his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Good morning, Yukimura."  
Yukimura turned his head at the soft voice.  
"Ah, Shiraishi. Good morning."

Yukimura yawned. Wait, he wasn't supposed to yawn.

"How was your sleep?"  
Shiraishi's tail curled when he noticed the yawn.  
"Sleep? Ah, sleep. I don't really need to sleep."  
Shiraishi's eyes widened slightly. "You sure? You look a bit tired."  
"I can get tired, yes, but I don't really have to sleep," Yukimura said in a reassuring voice.  
"Well, just... take care to rest well. You seemed pretty exhausted after that match with Nanjiroh."  
...Was he worried?  
"Sure."

Shiraishi turned around to look at Sengoku and Kirihara.  
"It seems we're the first to wake... Even though it's already half past seven."  
A sleepy voice came from the bottom bunk. "Half past seven...? Dude, you're insane..."  
"Kirihara! Good morning," Shiraishi bowed down to greet Kirihara.  
"Morning... huh...? This isn't my bed... Waaait.  
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait."  
"For what?" Shiraishi joked.  
"It wasn't a dream?! Somebody pinch me!"

Sengoku descended from his bed and took the challenge upon him.  
"Careful what you wish for, curly-boy."  
"It's Kirihara-aaaaaaaah!"  
As Sengoku poked his side, Kirihara shot upright, hitting his head against Yukimura's bed. "Ow ow ow...  
It's not a dream...! Alright!"

The shifting of magical energies caught Yukimura's attention, and within a few seconds, four sets of books, writing gear, notebooks, bags, and a different item for each of them appeared on the wide table in the middle of the room.  
Kirihara was the first to pick up one of the piles' letters.  
"'A magical charger for you, Kirihara Akaya. Don't overuse it.' it says. Whoa! I can play games here!"  
"'You'll find one of these here each morning, Sengoku Kiyosumi.' A fortune magazine? No subscription fee?"  
Words were added. "'No subscription fee.'  
Lucky~"  
"I get... 'Basic living stuff. Felt kinda sad for you to have no luggage. Enjoy your luggage, Yukimura Seiichi.'"  
Yukimura held up a shirt and sighed, while the other three laughed.  
"I get... a key? 'I leave this mess in your hands, Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Have fun being the leader. P.S. the key opens lots of doors.'  
What-- Why me?!  
........  
'Because you seem the most capable. Good luck.'"  
"What does he mean, I'm not capable?!" Yukimura exclaimed.  
"Haven't seen you trying to keep the group together," Sengoku said.  
"Oh, so now you suddenly want me here."  
Shiraishi sighed. "We've been promoted to 'mess', guys."  
"Yeah, accurate," Sengoku said, laughing.  
"Hey, I'm kinda hungry," Kirihara said. "Is there anything for breakf--"

He was interrupted by bread appearing on the table, with a card attached.  
"'Just this one time. Tomorrow you'll have to get it from the common room. Fridge's also plenty full, if you're also wondering about dinner. Shiraishi and Sengoku should be able to cook.'  
Don't tell me I have to cook as well..." Shiraishi sighed.  
"We'll take turns," Sengoku said. "Though I'd have expected at least Yukimura to be able to cook."  
"I don't really have to eat," Yukimura said, holding up his hands, "So I guess I never learned it."  
"Alright, but I'm not gonna cook every day," Shiraishi said. "I suggest we switch around each day. I'll help Yukimura, Sengoku, please help Kirihara."  
"Sure thing."  
"Well then, enough of making agreements. How about breakfast? I'll get the dishes."

In a few minutes, everyone was merrily around the table, taking slices of bread from here or juice from there. Except Yukimura, who was sort of staring blankly at his empty plate.  
"Aren't you gonna eat?" Shiraishi asked.  
"I'm... They didn't quite have this in my time. Besides, I don't really have to eat."  
It felt like he was making excuses, but it was the truth.  
"It's a bit lonely if you don't eat with us, though."  
"I'll drink some milk, okay? I'll leave eating for another day."  
Shiraishi sighed, a hint of disappointment clear in his voice.  
"I guess..."

Kirihara, on the other hand, was merrily gulping down his breakfast.  
"It's just like normal bread!"  
"It is normal bread," Sengoku responded.  
"Aww. Kinda hoped it was magic bread."  
"That would, what? Fly?"  
Kirihara shrugged.  
Yukimura chuckled. "Bread doesn't fly anywhere. It would be impractical to eat, too."  
"Not even in heaven?" Kirihara asked.  
"Not even in Heaven."

The rest of the early morning was spent rather slowly, with Shiraishi doing weird poses ("it's called 'yoga', Yukimura"), and eventually with Sengoku holing himself up in the bathroom with Kirihara. Somehow, that turned into a fight for the mirror as they both wanted to do their hair at the same time, until Shiraishi came in to stop them.  
Yukimura simply watched from his bed, brushing his hair with his new brush. The clothes he got from headmaster Nanjiroh lay next to him, still neatly folded.  
He wondered if he'd ever get to wear them. He was much more comfortable in his Angelic robes, and it didn't seem...  
Yukimura held up one of the shirts, turned it around.  
...like they were meant for an Angel.

Shiraishi called from the bathroom. "Yukimura, do you have a human form?"  
"Yes, why do you ask?"  
"I think all of us should hide our wings when we go. I don't want to be too conspicuous... especially considering, well, we're Incubi... and you're an Angel."  
"Are Angels and Demons rare?" Kirihara asked.  
"Demons aren't exactly rare, but they're rather unwanted," Shiraishi said.  
"Besides," Sengoku chimed in, "we as Incubi are at risk of being recognised. It's both less easy to find someone if they know you're an Incubus, and less easy to keep your dream intact."  
"Never thought an Incubus would be discreet," Yukimura said softly.  
"What, you thought we'd just go out and haul someone off the streets at night? We'd never just take anyone without permission, you know?" Sengoku said. "In fact, that doesn't even work."  
Yukimura fell silent for a bit.

"Oh, Heaven never tells you guys anything, does it? Why is your info cycle so slow?"  
"You know that Angels and Demons don't mix well, don't you? We're like water and fire. It's not that Angels wouldn't talk about you, we just prefer not to get too close. You're bringers of sin, after all."  
"Well, that's true. We don't really need your purity crap either, anyway."  
"Now, now, you two... Though I'd get a bit mad if you start avoiding us, Yukimura," Shiraishi came in, "and I'd get mad at you, Sengoku, as well.  
Yukimura, will you try changing?"

"Ah, sure."  
It's been a while since he last did this, Yukimura thought. Aside from the 700 year skip, he'd always preferred his Angelic form. It was less vulnerable, after all. It took him a few moments to find the change switch, but when he did--

"Bwahaahaha! What's with that getup? Are you going to a ball or something?!"  
Kirihara broke out in laughter, looking past Shiraishi at Yukimura.  
"S-Shut up...! It was the last thing I'd been wearing, you know? I can't help it if I'd been out the loop for 700 years...!" He didn't know whether he was this uncharacteristically embarrassed because a human laughed at him, or because he as an Angel was more behind the times than two Demons.  
"You're gonna have to change clothes, though, Yukimura. This can't pass," Shiraishi said, chuckling lightly.  
"As if I don't know that... Will you let me change?"  
Much like the two Demons, Yukimura could store and change clothes as well, but he'd have to have had put them on first.  
"You mean...?"  
"Close the door for some privacy? I'm sure you guys don't want to see me naked either."  
Shiraishi laughed, and bowed lightly. "Well, 'tis only fair, my fair gentleman."  
At which Kirihara promptly broke into another fit of laughter.  
"I'll close the door. Take your time," Shiraishi said, shoving his way into the now rather cramped bathroom and clicking it shut.  
"Wait a minute..." Sengoku said, "couldn't he just dress in the bathroom? Why do we have to be here?!"  
"Can't hear you~" Yukimura singsonged, "Shirt's over my ears~"

Yukimura was unbuttoning his vest, when Sengoku's annoyed voice came through the door.  
"Move, Shiraishi, I'm opening the door."  
"Sengoku, no. Kirihara changed in the bathroom as well."  
"But it's cramped! Kirihara and I couldn't even stand in front of the same mirror, and now you're in as well!"  
"It's only for a few minutes. You've had worse."  
"Sengoku can you get your wing out of my face please," Yukimura heard Kirihara call.  
"I could, if I had more space?!" Sengoku exclaimed.  
"You could also just change, you now?" Shiraishi said.  
"No, no, there's enough space," Kirihara said, "Just gotta keep still! Like this! Never played hide and seek?"

Yukimura picked a blue shirt and white trousers from the small stack of clothes, and started changing into them. As much as he thanked Shiraishi for giving him a bit of space, he wouldn't want to imagine Sengoku's situation.  
He pulled his shirt down, fastened his belt, jumped from his bed and headed for the bathroom door.

"I've finished," he said, opening the door. Shiraishi fell rather ungraciously out of the bathroom, apparently, he'd been leaning against the door for space.

Sengoku and Kirihara stepped over Shiraishi, gladly claiming the space.

"It looks good on you," Shiraishi said from the floor.  
"Thanks, I guess?"  
Shiraishi got back to his feet.  
"Let's finish up here and go. Don't want to be too late on the first day."  
"It's only quarter past eight..." Kirihara mumbled.  
"We don't know how much we have to walk, do we? Nanjiroh never gave us a map or walking instructions either."  
"Just let me finish my hair..."  
"Sure, but don't make it too long."

Kirihara spent another 15 minutes on his hair, to a bit of Sengoku's annoyance before finishing up. Yukimura briefly touched his books and notebooks, watched them disappear into his space.  
"You can do that?!"  
Yukimura could swear that if you took all the sparkles from Kirihara's eyes, you could fill an early night sky.  
"Yes, and you'll probably learn it in due time. It's the same way how Shiraishi and Sengoku changed yesterday night."  
"Yesterday night?"  
"Ah, I forgot you knocked yourself out immediately. Though, they'll be able to demonstrate it for you right now."  
"...We haven't changed yet, have we?" Sengoku said.  
"Nope," Shiraishi said.  
In a flash, their wings and tails disappeared. Shiraishi showed up in a simple blouse, Sengoku in a green hoodie.  
"You'll have to use your backpack for a while, Kirihara."  
"Sure, sure. Was prepared for that, haha."  
Shiraishi stored his stuff as well, while Sengoku took a bag.  
"Don't think we'll need anything more than notebooks, at least for today."

"Let's go."  
Shiraishi unlocked the door with the key the headmaster gave him, and as the group stepped outside, they found a bright arrow with 'Shiraishi's group this way'

"So much for being inconspicuous," Sengoku said, laughing nervously.  
They walked through the hallways, following the totally not obnoxious glowing arrows to the common room.

They found their new headmaster in the same robes he had yesterday.

"Couldn't you have made these arrows less obnoxious?" Shiraishi asked him.  
"Well, well, I'd be in a pinch if you missed them, you know? Got all your stuff?"  
Shiraishi held up his bandaged left hand, a small green spark in its palm.  
"Yeah."  
Headmaster Nanjiroh raised an eyebrow.   
"...Didn't I tell you to come at 9?"  
A faint smile played at Shiraishi's lips. "I like being punctual, headmaster."  
"Well, whatever. Here's your schedule."  
Nanjiroh handed one schedule to Shiraishi and Yukimura, the other one to Kirihara and Sengoku.

"We get two different schedules?"  
"You're in different classes, of course you guys get different schedules. We aim to cater best to our students, so Kirihara and Sengoku get to learn everything from the basics, while Yukimura and Shiraishi are grouped in with the more magically proficient class."  
"If I may ask... what is the goal of this Magical Academy? Seeing as I got taken here as well." Yukimura asked.  
"To provide a well-rounded education of magic. Though, we're still sort of in our starting stages, so we can't take in everyone. I noticed that, in most magical communities, there's a serious lack of basics. Some focus only on the branch that lies best with their race, others forgo controlling or reading. And usually education is really uneven as well, see Sengoku and Shiraishi.  
I wanted to give everyone an equal education, so I gathered a bunch of people and founded this school.  
You'll even get a magical certificate at the end of this three year thing.   
But remember to don't hold back and have fun."

Yukimura looked over Shiraishi's shoulder.  
It turned out their next lessons were Mythology and Spell Theory.

"Fundamental Magical Theory... sounds complicated," Kirihara said, looking at their schedule.  
"It's pretty important though, Kirihara," Yukimura said. "It tells about where magic comes from and what laws it follows."  
"Ooooh..." Kirihara's gaze was confused, after all Yukimura's explanation was rather abstract.  
"Well, you'll learn it in due time."  
"Then! Off I go! See you guys again at lunch!" Kirihara said, taking off running.  
"No wait, Kirihara, that's the wrong direction!" Sengoku shouted after him, before groaning and running after him.

"Will they be alright?" Yukimura asked.  
"Who knows.  
Will you walk with me? We need to go the same way anyway, so why not walk together?"  
"I guess... though don't think I have any plans of getting close to you."  
Shiraishi laughed somewhat wistfully. "Is it because I'm a Demon?"  
"That's right. You represent the opposite of what I stand for, after all."  
Yukimura started walking, following the numbers and boards with directions.

"Does that really matter?"  
"It does! I can't just suddenly throw away all notion of common sense while I'm here."  
"You threw away all common sense accepting Nanjiroh's invitation to battle, though.," Shiraishi said softly.  
Yukimura folded his arms in front of his chest.  
"I still remain he should have been vanquished at that first blow."  
Shiraishi took note of Yukimura's frustrated tone.   
"Do you think it's a bad thing to come here?"

Yukimura sighed.  
"I do. I still have my duties, you know? Overseeing people, setting them on the right path... I don't think you noticed, but this school has a barrier around it, it's completely isolated in space. I'm lucky it does allow magic energy to flow through, otherwise I'd have been out of power in a matter of days, but it does mean I can't even report to Heaven. "  
"Couldn't you have done that in the school basement?"  
"It was magically sealed. Heaven hasn't heard anything about me in 700 years... as ridiculous as that sounds to me."  
"Then can't they wait three more?" Shiraishi smiled at him.  
"No," Yukimura interjected. "But," he shrugged, "I'm stuck here now, I guess. Maybe I'll have a few things to add to my report.  
Ah, we're there."

There were various magical beings in the class they found themselves in, a dryad Yukimura recognised on sight, an ember spirit, and a minor Wind. The rest was either unfamiliar or in human form.

Fortunately, the size of the class was rather limited. Yukimura didn't like crowded places too much, he'd always preferred to watch from a distance instead of taking the risk of getting involved in some mess, so this was a breather to him.  
Unfortunately, however...  
"It seems these are the last seats."

Yukimura didn't mind sitting at the front, but the only other vacant seat was the one next to him, which meant...  
"I'll be taking the seat next to you, Yukimura," Shiraishi said.  
" ...It can't be helped."  
Yukimura noticed Shiraishi took care not to sit too close, at least.  
He took out his notebook and started writing down the course on the front, and on the first page the lecture number and... 

"What date is it?" Yukimura asked Shiraishi.  
"Which calendar? Mine, yours, human, universal?"  
"There's an universal calendar?"  
"There is, actually. We've had it for a few hundred years now... but I suppose you missed it," Shiraishi laughed nervously.  
"Do you know the date in mine and the universal one?"   
"Yeah, let me write them down for you."   
Shiraishi took Yukimura's notebook and wrote down both dates in the top corner of the page, before Yukimura took it back.  
"Hey, who gave you permission to do that?"   
"It's easier than calling them."  
Yukimura sighed.  
September 2512, huh... It hurt seeing a number that big. Surely he'd get scolded by Heaven for being off communication for that long. 

"Alright, good morning everyone. I'm miss Hanamura, your Mythology teacher. I'll be telling you all about the different magical races, how they work, how they think.  
I'll be telling a lot of it myself, but as the course progresses, I'll ask each of you guys to give a brief lesson on your race. Who better to teach about your people than you yourself?"  
Well, she had a point. But if that meant giving out his race, he'd rather not.  
"To be honest, I want us all to be equal. That's why I'm going to ask everyone to dispel their human forms."  
A murmur.  
"It's no use hiding your true form from me, though. After all, I can see just what you are."  
She walked over towards his sitting place.  
"For example, Yukimura here is an A--"  
No!  
Almost in reflex, he cast a muting spell onto her.  
He closed his eyes and let the momentary panic flow through and out his system, before reclaiming his composure, smile on his face.

"If you don't mind, miss, I won't be revealing myself any time soon. And I'm sure there are a lot of other students that would prefer hiding their true form for now. I'd like it if you'd respect that."

Yukimura glanced over to the side, and saw Shiraishi with his hand outstretched. Only then did he notice Shiraishi had hastily cast a mute spell as well.  
"I agree with that. I'm all for equality, but there will be fairly major complications if you force some people to reveal themselves.  
If you can see what I am, you'd have to understand why I can't. Will you allow the others and me to keep their privacy for now?"

The professor was silent for a while, then nodded, and Shiraishi dispelled, quickly joined by Yukimura.

Shiraishi... you're actually pretty decent when it comes to this, aren't you? Despite being a Demon and doing this for your own benefit.

"Now, now, first class and you're already using spells against the profs outside Spells in Practice. "  
Nanjiroh came walking in. "Didn't think you two to be troublemakers."  
Yukimura set his eyes on the Headmaster's shape, sharp and serious.  
"We aren't, at least, I'm not. We were just setting something right. Our teacher was about to force me and most likely a fair few of the class to reveal themselves against their will.  
I simply put a halt to that."  
"Well, well, Yukimura. She has a point. I'll leave you in the right for now, but I do want you all to live as yourselves here. I'll have you reveal yourselves when you're assigned to give your lessons, just like the rest of the class."  
"But headmaster, I--" Shiraishi interjected.  
"I know. There's someone who can help you around that during Individual Specialisation, so you don't have to worry too much."  
"There is?"  
"Yeah. And, please don't cast spells or magic on the teachers. It's against school rules."  
"Yes."  
"Sure."  
"Then, I'll be going again. Have fun~"

Yukimura sighed and picked up his pen again, and Hanamura restarted her lesson.

For an introductory lecture, it was pretty interesting, Yukimura thought.  
It was mostly an outline on how the rest of the lectures were going to be and how the course was structured, but there were bits and pieces of things he didn't know.  
Maybe Sengoku had a bit of a point in saying Heaven's info cycle was a bit slow. He'd known the basic separation of elements, but he had heard nigh nothing about the various magical races in detail.

Yukimura let out a breath and took his pen in hand. Perhaps there'd be a use to the time he'd spend here, after all.


	4. Lunch and lecture

Under Sengoku's guidance, he and Kirihara walked to the school cafeteria. Fundamental Magic Theory should have been a lot to take in for Kirihara, but all Sengoku heard was some desperate muttering of 'It's just math...!'   
It was true, FMT was exactly that. It was probably the reason why they didn't have a separate maths course, Sengoku thought.

"Hey, do you know the real reason why Yukimura has that stick up his ass?"  
Kirihara, seemingly recovered, put his hands behind his head as he walked through the hallways.  
"What do you mean, 'real reason'? It's only natural that we're wary of each other. Demons are bringers of desire, after all, and Angels are bringers of order and justice and all that."  
"Well, you know, you two don't seem like bad people."  
Kirihara flashed him a grin.

Sengoku suppressed a smirk, coughed.  
"Sometimes, people don't need more than an idea. But thanks, I guess."  
Kirihara pointed a finger upwards.  
"In video games, it's usually the demons that are coolest, too."  
"Video games?" Sengoku raised an eyebrow.  
"You don't have those? Oh man, you're missing out! I'll let you play with me, because I'm generous like that."

Sengoku looked somewhat sceptically at Kirihara. And this brat got selected... Despite being a human, even.  
Humans weren't supposed to be magically potent. They really took care of themselves during all those witch hunts and eradications of paganism they all had going on back in the day.  
Sengoku himself hadn't been there, of course, but he still thought it was unreasonable. Which is why he was wary of Yukimura.  
He couldn't say anything about the Angels' involvement, but it was bad enough those kinds of things were done in their name.

"So tell me again," Sengoku heard Yukimura's voice say, "why are you sitting next to me again?"   
"All of us promised to eat lunch together, didn't we?"  
Shiraishi was still stupidly trying to get him to get along. Really, it was a hopeless case.  
"Urgh... I'm not eating, though."  
Shiraishi sighed. "Again?"

"Hey guys," Sengoku called, joining them on opposite ends of the table. "How were lessons?"  
"Both of us nearly got outed by miss Mythology," Yukimura complained. "It turns out we have to give a lesson ourselves about our race in due time... I understand where she's coming from, but..."

"Ah, she told us the same thing, though she didn't ask us to dispel our human forms on the spot."  
"Seems our little violation of the rules had some effect, after all," Shiraishi laughed.  
"...You what?" Sengoku asked in disbelief.  
"Yukimura and I cast a mute spell on her when she was about to tell the class what Yukimura is."  
Sengoku glanced at the usually rule-following Shiraishi, then looked at Yukimura. "And you're still alright?"  
"What do you mean with that?" Yukimura asked.  
"Well, don't Angels, like, Fall if they go against the rules?"

Yukimura leaned back in his chair, folded his arms together.  
"I felt doing it like this was for the greater good."  
"You just panicked, though," Shiraishi said.  
"I didn't. I always keep my composure."  
Sengoku laughed. "That's a lie. I can see it in your eyes."  
Yukimura looked away and let out a breath.  
"...Fine, so maybe I startled a little."  
"Well, I nearly panicked as well, so I can't blame you," Shiraishi said.  
"'Nearly', you say," Yukimura said, raising a sceptical eyebrow.  
"Unlike you, I can't cast the mute spell on pure instinct."  
Yukimura blinked.  
"Ah. I see."

"How about you guys? How did your first lecture go?" Shiraishi asked.  
"Fundamental Magic Theory is just maths," Kirihara lamented.  
Sengoku turned his head to look at Kirihara.  
"You understand now that magic isn't just flicking your wrist?"  
Kirihara pouted.  
"Yes, Sengoku..."  
"Though I'm also a bit worried for Magic and Spells in Practice... Aside from when you woke us up, you never did any magic, right?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Now that you mention it..." Yukimura said, "...that will be a bit of a problem. Most magically potent people grow up discovering and using their magic, consciously or subconsciously. Have you ever noticed something unusual happening to you, or around only you?"  
"...All I can do is fall asleep whenever I want."  
"Yeah, I doubt that's going to cut it during Magic in Practice," Sengoku said.  
"Don't know until you try," Kirihara laughed nervously. "We'll see. Maybe I'll turn out to be a natural."  
"Don't count on it," Shiraishi said softly. "Though I have the full belief that with effort, you'll get there."  
"Sure."

Sengoku looked ahead of him, from Shiraishi to that Angel.

"It's pretty noisy here, isn't it?"  
Yukimura rubbed his forehead. Sengoku was surprised to see Yukimura having a hard time with noise, of all things.  
"Well, that's to be expected. It's lunchtime, after all," Shiraishi said.  
Yukimura dropped his hand, folding his arms over the table.  
"I'll survive... Well, it's not like I can die anyway, but I'll live."  
Shiraishi laughed. "Want to look through the Academy later to see if there's a quieter place?"  
"It's not like we'd be able to use that in our lunch breaks though, they're rather short."  
Shiraishi leaned on his hand.  
"That's right, but I want to explore this Academy anyway. Want to come with me in our free hours tomorrow?"  
"I bet you're going to make me come anyway."  
"Is that a no?"  
Yukimura's eyes turned cold.  
"It's an 'It can't be helped so I'll go along.' Don't get mistaken, Demon."   
Shiraishi smiled, while Yukimura sighed.

"Spell Theory was a rather refreshing summary of the basics, though," Shiraishi said, changing the subject.  
"That's right," Yukimura said, loosening up once more. "It was fun, hearing about Merlin's theorem again."  
"Merlin... what," Kirihara said, blinking.  
"Ah, you'll probably get that in a month or two. Old as it might be by now, it was pretty groundbreaking," Yukimura said.  
"It's a bit frustrating I never heard of it either," Sengoku said, then turned to Shiraishi. "Our education really was uneven, Shiraishi."  
"Seems this Academy will do you plenty good, then."

Sengoku's chest puffed forwards.  
"Of course, that's why I accepted."  
Shiraishi blinked.  
"Not because of the girls?"  
"I just want to get more even with you."

Shiraishi leaned back, smirked softly.  
"The great Sengoku, not in something for the girls for once?! The world must be ending."  
Sengoku smirked back. "The great Shiraishi, talking about the end of his world as soon as I regularly show interest in something. What a prophet! Clearly the world has long ended."  
The two laughed. It was nice to hear Shiraishi's silly jokes again.  
And with that, Sengoku took out his bread from his bag and finally started on his lunch. Even though that Angel would be there, it wouldn't change he'd be having a good time with Shiraishi and Kirihara.  
Maybe this would be fun, after all.

* * *

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly. Kirihara and Sengoku had Spell Theory in the afternoon, while Yukimura and Shiraishi had Magic Theory.

"Spell Theory, huh...  
It's not maths, isn't it?" Kirihara asked Sengoku.  
"It's not, it's not, don't worry. It's more like a language course. But, you know, if maths really is that hard for you, I'm really good at it, so..."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, yeah!" Sengoku smirked.  
"You know, with every moment I keep thinking more and more you're just like a normal person.  
N-Not in a bad way, of course!"  
Kirihara laughed.  
"W-What I mean to say is, uh, yes!   
You're surprisingly human!"  
"But I'm a Demon," Sengoku deadpanned.  
"That's not what I meaaaant!  
Look, uh, you've got Yukimura.  
Yukimura's like, he's got this whole aura around him, like, paaaa!  
It's amazing, really amazing.  
Like, when he went against Na- Headmaster Nanjiroh, he was so cool!"  
Kirihara's eyes sparkled once more, and he continued.  
"And Shiraishi... I don't really get it, but he seems somehow really out of reach, he's almost too good of a guy."

"..."  
"The. point. is," Kirihara smiled at him, "at least with you I feel I can have a conversation on the same level."

For a moment, Sengoku spaced out, warm by the sudden compliment.

Doing so, he could only barely avoid smacking face-first into the door as Kirihara opened it in his face.  
"Hey, you--   
Warn me!"  
"Sorry, sorry. Thought you'd see."  
"What happened to your shitty sense of direction?!"  
"Huuh? This is the same hall as earlier, you know? I might be bad with directions, but I'm no idiot?"  
Sengoku sighed in relief.

"..."  
Kirihara halted in front of the doorway, handle in his hand.

"It's the wrong classroom isn't it."  
"Yep."

* * *

The Magic Theory course started out in rather familiar territory to Yukimura, but as the course would progress, he found many interesting things he didn't yet know about would be taught. The second half of the lecture was an introduction to shapeshifting. Luckily for Yukimura, he knew a fair bit about the processes involved. He had known a natural shapeshifter back in the day, after all. Though there was no doubt the guy wouldn't be on this world any more.

"Shapeshifting is all about changing how you appear in the world. It goes beyond simply hiding tails and scales. The best, natural shapeshifters, can even have multiple forms for different eyes. Though, those that powerful are incredibly rare. Even maintaining a single form can put a strain on your identity, after all.  
That's why, when shapeshifting, you have to take care to remain who you are. In most cases, your shift will dispel as soon as you're unconscious, though. Does anyone know why that happens?"  
Shiraishi rose his hand.  
"Yes, Shiraishi?"  
"It's because magic is largely rooted in the subconscious, isn't it? As soon as you fall asleep, your conscious clears and your subconscious reverts to its natural state. It's for the same reason our human form comes undone. Though, natural shapeshifters will keep their shift, and occasionally even change when dreaming."  
"That's right. You seem to know a lot about this, Shiraishi."  
Shiraishi laughed nervously.  
"W-Well, I guess I've done my research."  
Yukimura threw a sceptical glance at Shiraishi. Not making a lot of effort in hiding yourself, are we? Though it's not like something like that could give you away.  
"It's always good to see students with a bit of pre-hand knowledge.  
I'll be asking more questions from now on. Don't hesitate to answer them if you know them, after all, all of us together know more than I alone. Also, don't hesitate to ask your own questions, either. Usually you're not the only one who has them."  
Yukimura wondered how often he'd be hearing that.  
If there was something that interested him, he'd ask, of course, but for now, he'd take it easy.  
He yawned again. Shoot, why did he keep doing that?  
True, Angels didn't need to sleep, but he'd hoped to have a decent power regeneration rate...  
He hadn't even had a more magically taxing lesson yet, but he could feel the power deficit weighing him down.  
He couldn't allow himself to sleep, but at this rate, there was no doubt this was going to be fun later on.  
He'd deal with it when the time came. For now he'd try to focus on the lecture on hand.


	5. Evening

It turned out Shiraishi was rather good at cooking.  
At least, that's what he got from Kirihara and Sengoku's reaction to the smells of food liberally drifting through the air.  
"I looked in the fridge and saw we had the ingredients for soba, so I thought, why not?" Shiraishi said, putting filled bowls in front of the company.  
"Soba?" Yukimura asked.  
"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it."  
It didn't roll off Shiraishi's tongue like it was anything remotely European.  
"I have always been Europe-based. So, no."  
"It's a Japanese dish. You know your way around chopsticks?"  
Yukimura narrowed his eyes.  
"I said I'm not going to eat..."

Sengoku sat himself down at the table.  
"Shiraishi here cooked for four, you know? At this point it's kind of rude to refuse," he said.

"I don't care. I'm not going to e—"  
"Yukimura."  
Shiraishi's stare was somewhat stern. Ah, that's right, he did promise to be less attitudeful, didn't he...  
He regretted not paying more attention when Yanagi showed him how to use chopsticks back in the day, thinking he wouldn't need it.  
Yukimura looked away, at which Shiraishi's stare softened to a smile.  
"You could've just told me you don't know how to eat with chopsticks, you know?"  
How—  
"I..." Yukimura sighed.  
"Seems I hit the nail on its head.  
Though really, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Here, I'll teach you."  
Shiraishi showed him how and where to put his fingers by taking his own sticks in hand, yet Yukimura couldn't quite put his finger on how to do it, much to his own embarrassment.  
"Like this?"  
Shiraishi laughed softly, walked over to where Yukimura was sitting.  
"A bit more like..." Shiraishi took Yukimura's right hand in his own and guided Yukimura's fingers into the right positions, "this?"  
Yukimura could feel Shiraishi's face brushing against his hair as he leaned over Yukimura's shoulder. "Hey, don't touch me. You're too close."  
"I-I'm sorry!"  
Shiraishi rapidly retracted his hand and took a step back, while Sengoku facepalmed in the distance.

"See, Shiraishi, this is why you can't ever seem to pick up anyone. You gotta try to be more smooth and less jumpy apologetic. It's physically painful for me to watch."  
Sengoku stood up and walked over to Shiraishi, who dramatically stretched his arm out.  
"Enlighten me, oh great lord of picking people up."  
A devious smirk crept to Sengoku's face.  
"Next time you want to apologise, do it like this:"

Sengoku took Yukimura's protesting hand in his own, placed a small kiss on its back.  
"I'm sorry, miss. It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable. Please tell me how I can make it up to you."  
Sparkles were practically radiating from Sengoku.  
"I'm still a guy, and you know that as well as I do."  
Yukimura forcefully pulled his hand back, sent him a glare.

Shiraishi clapped. "Very smooth.  
And placing that kiss on the back of his hand totally doesn't defeat your purpose."  
"Hey, you asked me how I'd apologise to a girl. Should have been clearer with your instructions."  
Sengoku shrugged, before continuing, "But, you get the gist, don't you? Even if it's just with a friend, it's better if you do it calmly and with reason."  
He had totally taken advantage of the situation, Yukimura thought. How Demon-like.  
But his advice...  
"I do, don't worry." Shiraishi placed his hand on Sengoku's shoulder. "Thank you for showing me."

Yukimura looked over to Shiraishi. "No, if you ever apologise to me like that..." Yukimura smiled, "...you know what will happen, right?"  
A shiver went up Shiraishi's spine, and Yukimura's smile broadened. Shiraishi's spooked face was surprisingly cute, so it seemed.

"...What will happen?" Kirihara asked, equally curious as anxious.  
Yukimura chuckled. "I'll leave that to your imagination."  
Kirihara pouted.  
"Stingy."

"Anyway, Shiraishi, can we dig in yet?" Sengoku practically puppy-eyed Shiraishi to just let them start already.  
"It's just soba, you know? No need to be that enthusiastic," Kirihara said.  
Yukimura smiled in himself. Even though Kirihara was usually the more puppy-like...  
"You say that now, but wait until you taste them. Right, Shiraishi?"  
Shiraishi folded his arms together, briefly closed his eyes.  
"That's right. You should never underestimate the power of simple noodles."

Sengoku leaned his arm onto Shiraishi's shoulder.  
"Shiraishi here is the prince of noodles. Give him any piece of dough and he'll make it into a king's meal."  
Shiraishi laughed nervously.  
"You're exaggerating, Sengoku, though I admit I'm good at making noodles."  
Sengoku smiled and closed his eyes, letting go of Shiraishi's shoulder as he returned to lean into the back of his chair.  
"Though the only proof I can give you is the noodles itself."  
Shiraishi laughed. "Then, let's dig in.  
Thanks for the meal."  
"Thanks for the meal," came the chorus.

"Mffh, fhif if delifiouf!"  
Kirihara was once again merrily munching his meal, Yukimura saw, while Sengoku and Shiraishi ate at a more moderate pace.  
"Told you so... Man, Shiraishi, you keep getting better, it's inhuman."  
"Thank you~  
Well, I'm an Incubus after all, it's only natural," Shiraishi joked.

Yukimura once more stared at the bowl.  
"Will you try, Yukimura?" Shiraishi asked, catching Yukimura's gaze.  
"....."

Yukimura kept still for a few seconds, before rather clumsily taking a few noodles in his sticks, briefly blowing on them--  
"It's alright to slurp, it helps cool them down and makes the flavour come out," Shiraishi oh so helpfully provided.  
"Like I'm going to do that."  
Yukimura took them into his mouth, carefully.

"Mm!"  
The flavour surprised him. It was definitely a bit more savoury than he was used to, but the fresh vegetables balanced it out pretty well.

"Is it good?"  
Yukimura swallowed.  
"I'm definitely not used to the flavour, but I guess it isn't bad."  
"Thank you~  
Never thought I'd have an Angel praise my cooking."  
Yukimura laughed in a soft breath.  
"Never thought I'd praise a Demon's cooking. Though be warned, I probably wouldn't notice even if you poisoned it."  
"I wouldn't do that, you know."  
There was a little bit of hurt in Shiraishi's voice.  
Yukimura smiled faintly. "I wouldn't expect you to. Just mentioning that my sense of taste isn't always that reliable."  
And once more, Yukimura took his chopsticks in hand.

Shiraishi leaned on his hand, occasionally watching Yukimura's movements as he slowly raised his arm, time after time, to take the noodles to his mouth.

By the time Yukimura finished his bowl, well after the others, he'd gotten a moderate grip on how to work with chopsticks.  
Shiraishi was the only one still waiting for him at the end, Sengoku and Kirihara were already off to do their own thing.  
Yukimura couldn't blame them, he was taking way too long, even for his own liking.  
Yet Shiraishi waited patiently for him.

"I don't understand. Why would you wait for me?"

"It's the polite thing to do. Besides, I'll be doing the dishes as well."  
Yukimura briefly closed his eyes, mouth angling upwards against his will. "In any case, thank you."  
He'd expected the two Demons to be more rowdy and vulgar. Not... this?  
Shiraishi gently smiled back.  
"You're welcome."

"You've finally finished?"  
Sengoku looked up from his astrology magazine.  
"Sorry for taking so long. I'm not quite used to eating with chopsticks... or eating in overall."  
Yukimura briefly closed his eyes and handed Shiraishi his bowl.  
"I do hope you'll be able to join us for meals once in a while," Shiraishi said, putting Yukimura's bowl on top of the others. "It's more fun that way."  
Yukimura frowned slightly. "I do take longer, though. I don't want you to be late..."  
"If you're worried about taking longer, you can just stick to something to drink for breakfast and lunch, if you want. But I'd like it if you at least joined for dinner. I'll wait for you if it takes a bit longer, if it makes you feel better."  
He'd wait, he said. For him.  
Yukimura briefly fell silent.  
"...Well. I guess a Demon will do to keep me company. Thank you."  
He got a disapproving stare from Sengoku, but Sengoku held back and continued reading.

The rest of the evening was largely spent individually.  
"I wonder if they have a library... I'd like to borrow a nice book," Yukimura mused, taking place on top of his bed.  
"Let's check it out in our free time tomorrow," Shiraishi chimed in.  
"Sure."

For now, Yukimura read the lecture material back to kill the time. While Sengoku and Kirihara had their magazines and games, respectively, Yukimura came without luggage. Not counting Nanjiroh's presents, of course, but there hadn't been anything to read in them.  
Shiraishi had his own books to read, though the day Yukimura would ask to borrow them... well, it wasn't today, and not tomorrow either.

"Well then... It's getting rather late. Does anyone need to use the bathroom urgently? I'll be keeping it occupied for an hour," Shiraishi said.  
"Ah, I won't take long," Kirihara said. "Can I go first?"  
"Same here," Sengoku said.  
"I wouldn't need to use it at all, so I'm good," Yukimura said. "Though a bath once a while is nice," he added, as an afterthought.  
"Then, go ahead, you two."  
"Roger!"  
"Yeah."

While the two of them kept the bathroom occupied, Shiraishi started on doing some stretches.  
Yukimura rolled over on his bed, looking at Shiraishi's odd poses.  
"I didn't think you to be the type to take long in the bathroom."  
Shiraishi briefly closed his eyes.  
"I guess. The showering part isn't what takes the most time, it's the daily maintenance on my bandage that takes the longest."  
Yukimura tilted his head.  
"Maintenance?"  
"Re-wrapping them, cleaning. That kind of thing. You need to take care not to get things infected, after all, even if things aren't wounded."  
Shiraishi let out a breath and switched poses, limbs lean and mindful of his muscles.  
"You seem to take care of your health," Yukimura remarked.  
Shiraishi laughed.  
"Of course. You should've looked closer when you woke in my dream."  
Shiraishi closed his eyes and bent his back into an impressive pose, to emphasize his point.  
His dream...  
The image of that memory flashed before Yukimura's inner eye.  
"No thanks. It was bad enough as it is."  
"Ah, a pity."  
Shiraishi chuckled.

The day Yukimura ogled a Demon's body would be the day he Fell, he thought to himself. 

As Shiraishi finished his stretches, Sengoku and Kirihara finished their businesses in the bathroom.

"Well then," Shiraishi said, taking a towel and a fresh roll of bandage with him, "I'll be right back. Don't go destroy anything when I'm gone~"  
"Hey!" Kirihara called indignantly.  
"Sure thing," Sengoku said, not looking up from his magazine. Only then did Kirihara seem to realize it might have been a joke.

Yukimura discovered that yes, Shiraishi took exactly one hour. To the minute, even.  
"It's one of his skills," Sengoku filled in, when he saw Yukimura looking curiously at the time. "The skill to be immaculately punctual... A useless skill, but a skill nonetheless."  
Yukimura laughed a bit. That was actually rather cute, even though Shiraishi's still a Demon.

"It's free," Shiraishi said, coming in with a towel over his shoulders, thankfully clothed.  
At least he was consistent.

Shiraishi walked over to the refrigerator and took out a small bottle of milk.  
"You know, nothing beats a good glass of cold milk after a shower."

Shiraishi put the bottle to his lips and drank it in one go.  
"Ahh... Ecstasy."  
He wiped the remnants of milk from the corners of his mouth, languidly licked the drops off his fingers.  
A gulp could be heard coming from Kirihara, who immediately dropped his game in game over. Yukimura simply looked away. Like he'd be affected by the antics of a Demon.

"Hm? Is there something, Kirihara?"  
Once more, Shiraishi licked his finger, this time holding eye contact with Kirihara.  
"N-no, just..."  
Kirihara's face was all red as he looked away, while Shiraishi tilted his head in confusion.

"I can't believe you're like this and still don't manage to hit on people," Sengoku said.  
Only then did the coin drop with Shiraishi.  
"No, wait, Kirihara, I didn't mean anything with it! Really!"

"T-That so..." Kirihara closed his eyes, scepticism sounding in his voice.  
"I'm honest...!" Shiraishi brought his hand to his face. "Ngh... I'm sorry, Kirihara... I didn't notice..."  
Kirihara opened his eyes and flared out against him.  
"When it's such an obscene gesture! How can you not notice?!"  
"I..." Shiraishi sighed. "I'm really sorry. I'm just not aware of these things in general..."

Kirihara folded his arms together.  
"But still...!"  
"He's a natural," Sengoku said, "he can't really help it."  
"...And you're not?" Kirihara asked.  
Sengoku frowned.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, you didn't seem to be bad with the girls... Even though you got rejected by the one you asked out. You aren't saying that you just get lucky, do you?"  
"I-I am! Luck is a skill too, you know? I'm naturally lucky~"

Shiraishi chuckled.  
"Don't you dare say anything, Shiraishi."  
"I won't, I won't. He'll discover it himself before long."  
"Ugh..."  
Sengoku put a hand to his forehead.

Shiraishi smiled in himself, when his eye fell on the moon in the window.

"It's getting late, isn't it? Should we prepare for the night?" Shiraishi asked.  
"Ehh? But I wanted to game a bit longer..."  
"You're gonna get square eyes if you game that much, Kirihara," Sengoku said.  
"Just one more level...!"  
"But you already lost."  
"I did?!"  
"Yeah, when you dropped it."  
Kirihara picked his game up from the floor. "Nooo! I was so close to the checkpoint, too!"  
"Perfect time to go to bed, then." Shiraishi said.  
"Who are you, my mother?"  
"At least say father..."  
Kirihara laughed. "You're not denying being parental. I'm 18, you know? Old enough to take care of myself."  
Shiraishi blinked once. "Ei—  
Ah, yes, humans become adults around their eighteenth... I forgot."

Kirihara looked at him weirdly.  
"How could you even forget that?"  
"Well, you see,"Shiraishi explained, "Incubi turn adult around their forty-fifth birthday."  
This time it was Kirihara's turn to be surprised.  
"F— Forty-fifth?!"  
"Most magical races live pretty long."  
"...Then, just how old are you?"  
"414 years."  
Kirihara briefly counted on his fingers.  
"Isn't that basically an old geezer in Demon terms?!"  
"Not really. Osamu is a lot older, he's somewhere in the thousand. Aging sort of slows down really badly after you turn forty-five, especially for Incubi."  
"And you?" Kirihara turned to Sengoku.  
"375 years."  
"...Whoa... I had no idea you guys were that old."  
"Don't call us old," Sengoku said, somewhat offended. "Age sort of loses its meaning after a certain point. For all you know, I could be 21, and Shiraishi 22. It only gets relevant again when you're really, really old."  
"Really, really old..."  
Kirihara suddenly looked like he realized something. "...Yukimura."  
"Hm? What's it?"  
"...Can I ask you for your age?"  
"There's no need to be that formal, Kirihara," Yukimura said, smiling as he closed his textbook.  
"But you always talk that formal... And you're an angel, after all. I keep feeling the need to respect you..."  
"I'm making an exception because I'll be living together with you all. Do you want my age with or without time skip?"  
"With."  
"Let's see, it was 2512 NE this year... Which means...  
I'll be turning 2862 this year, then."

Kirihara fell silent, as did Shiraishi and Sengoku.  
"...What? Angels are pretty much immortal. It's not weird to see an Angel as old as I am, you know?"  
"...You're so ooooooooooold!"  
"Hey. Weren't you the ones who said that age stopped mattering beyond a certain point?"  
"Well, yeah, but... You don't look 28 centuries old," Shiraishi said.  
Yukimura closed his eyes.  
"No Angel does. However, I won't forgive you if you all suddenly start addressing me with 'sir', or something."  
"I won't, I won't," Shiraishi said. "Casual is fine, right?"  
"Yes. Anyway, we were going to sleep, weren't we?"  
Shiraishi smiled.  
"Yeah. I'll change."

True to his word, Shiraishi changed to his green pyjamas again, and urged Sengoku to do the same.  
"Why should I?"  
"I don't think you noticed, but Yukimura's trying hard to be more friendly."  
"Yeah, I hardly noticed. But I'll do it, because it's you."  
Yukimura simply sighed. "Thanks, anyway."

Sengoku finally changed as well.

"Oh, the colour's different!" Kirihara noticed.  
"Today's lucky colour is red, after all~"  
"Eh? It is?"  
"Yeah, it's written in my magazines. I'm really grateful to headmaster Nanjiroh, I wouldn't have known what to do without them."  
"But, like, is it legit?"  
Shiraishi laughed, and joined in. "That's still up for debate. But it seems to help Sengoku, at least, so it's good."  
"It's totally legit! It works for me, after all."  
"You heard it," Shiraishi said.

Yukimura was glad he managed to get himself out of the bathroom craze by means of not needing to use it. Shiraishi was mature enough to wait once more, fortunately, but Sengoku and Kirihara crowded the bathroom, simply by brushing their teeth.  
Only when they finally returned and Shiraishi came back from the bathroom did rest return a bit.

"I'd been wondering... Shiraishi, what's under those bandages?" Kirihara asked.  
Shiraishi chuckled. "That's a secret."  
"Ehhh?! But I really want to know!"  
"To tell you the truth, I'm also curious," Yukimura said, folding his arms together.  
"You too, huh—  
Hey, Kirihara, don't pull!"  
Kirihara was trying to undo Shiraishi's bandages while his attention shifted, but Shiraishi caught him in time.

"But I really wanna knoooow!"  
Kirihara put on his best puppy eyes, and at last, Shiraishi yielded.

"Fine, I'll tell you guys...  
You see, I keep these bandages maintained daily, because I carry a terrible secret under them."  
"A terrible secret?" Kirihara asked.  
"Yes. It's a secret that's been burdening the Shiraishi bloodline for centuries.  
You see... if you alternatingly bathe your arm in sand and poisonous herbs—"  
"—it will absorb the poison and become poisonous itself...! Yeah, yeah, I read about that in a manga!"  
Yukimura covertly chuckled in his fist upon realizing what Shiraishi was doing.

"You seem knowledgeable, Kirihara.  
But tell this to anyone else..." Shiraishi intimidatingly unwound a bit of his bandage, "...and I'll have to seal your lips.  
Alright?"  
"Y-yeah..." Kirihara stuttered.  
"Good. Then, everyone, do I put the lights out?"  
"Wait, I haven't set my alarms yet!" Kirihara sat himself onto his bed and took out three alarms from his bag.  
Sengoku stared at him in disbelief. "You're not going to set all three of them, are you?"  
"I am! I have a habit of breaking my alarms before I wake up..."  
Shiraishi bent down to look at Kirihara, smiled. "How about setting one, and trusting me to wake you up?"  
"...But what if I hit you?"  
"Don't worry, I'm a good dodger."  
"...Fine, I'll only set one. But only 'cause you turned out alright this morning."  
"Thanks."

Shiraishi rose himself and turned to Yukimura, leaning onto the railing of Yukimura's bed.

"Yukimura, will you try to sleep tonight?"  
Yukimura gave him an exasperated sigh. "Why do you keep insisting I have to sleep?"  
"You're looking even more tired than you did yesterday evening."  
"I already told you I don't have to sleep."  
Shiraishi made a sad face. "But you do get tired, don't you?"  
Yukimura sighed once again. "I'll try, okay?"  
Shiraishi sent him a relieved smile. "I'm glad."  
Yukimura pulled his blanket over his wings, and tried to close his eyes.  
"I'll be putting the lights out. Good night, Yukimura."  
"Good night."


	6. Mornings and magic

Yukimura lay in his bed, reading up ahead for the next lecture, waiting for morning to come.  
Last time he checked, he still had a bit until half past seven, after all.   
Unfortunately, it turned out Shiraishi had a better grasp of time than he had.

"...You didn't sleep again, did you."  
Yukimura sighed and put his book down. "I tried, okay?"  
He looked sideways at Shiraishi, who was folding both his arms and his legs on his bed.  
"It doesn't look like you did, though. I saw you sitting on the edge of the bed this night, looking outside."  
"And?"  
"And now you're reading up on today's lesson."  
"A good observation," Yukimura said, closing his eyes, eyebrows raised.  
Shiraishi sighed. "I'm just a little disappointed."  
Yukimura opened his eyes again, watching Shiraishi get off the bed and walk over to him.  
"Feel free to be. You might want to catch Kirihara before his alarm goes off, though."  
"Ah, that's right."  
Shiraishi turned off Kirihara's alarm at exactly 7:29, bent down to wake him.

"Good morning, Kirihara."  
But Kirihara was deeper asleep than he had been on the first day. It was probably a sign that he was starting to feel a bit more at home. Which was good, but on the other hand...  
Shiraishi gently shook Kirihara's shoulder.  
Kirihara groaned a bit, and Shiraishi could barely dodge the impressive punch Kirihara gave to Shiraishi's general location.

"It can't be helped, huh," Shiraishi said, clearly projecting his voice.  
He tugged at the lower ends of his bandage, moved closer to Kirihara.

"Kirihara, you want to die?"  
Shiraishi's voice was low and dark, and had Yukimura been anything else than an Angel, it would have brought more than one kind of chills to his spine.

"You really are a natural," Yukimura remarked.  
"Wh- Ah! No!"  
Shiraishi hastily stumbled back, bumping his head into Yukimura's bed.  
"Ow, ow, ow..."

"S-Shiraishi! Are you okay?!"  
Kirihara startled awake, face both red and pale.  
"Yeah, yeah, just bumped my head."

Meanwhile, Sengoku rose himself as well, rubbing his eyes.  
"What's with the ruckus...?"  
"'Morning, Sengoku..."  
Shiraishi rubbed the back of his head, turning to face Sengoku.

"Morning? Wait, this energy... Shiraishi, what did you do to Kirihara."  
Shiraishi raised his hands.  
"N-Nothing! I just tried to wake him up..."  
Sengoku put his hand to his face, sighed. "...I can guess what happened."  
Shiraishi laughed nervously.  
"Hey, at least it worked...?"  
Sengoku chuckled.  
"Shiraishi, you're an idiot."  
A laugh, tension disappearing from Shiraishi's voice.  
"Tha~nk you."

Today's breakfast, too, was milk for Yukimura.  
He found it peculiar, this device called a refrigerator, but incredibly handy. Somehow, without an active spell, it was able to keep the foods inside of it cool. He found it fascinating.  
Meanwhile, Shiraishi had taken it upon himself to get breakfast from the common room, came back with a cute little basket.  
"It turns out there's a bit of choice in the breakfast baskets. Do you guys prefer Western or Eastern breakfast?"  
"...I've never had anything but Western," Kirihara said. "Lots of thanks to my father for that."  
"You know aside from monjyayaki I prefer Western as well," Sengoku said.  
"Even if I ate, I'm not used to anything besides Western food."  
Shiraishi smiled, and put the basket on the table.   
"Then I made a good guess."

* * *

Their first course for the day was Magic in Practice. Rather than explaining what they were going to do during the course, the professor instantaneously rearranged the classroom into something more fit for...   
"We're going to spar against each other," the teacher announced. "I want to know what all of you guys can do, so I can make a lesson plan. You'll get matched with a random opponent, tournament style, and the matches will be recorded for only the teachers' reference. You can only use magic, no spells.   
First one to break the other's barrier within the time wins. There will be no consequences for losers, nor will there be rewards for winners, but I do expect you all to put in at least some effort. Well then..."  
Floating runes matched Yukimura with an opponent, and the tables rearranged themselves to a series of concentric circles.   
"Tournament style, huh..." Yukimura watched in amusement as couples started to form.  
"Do you have experience with magical duels, Yukimura?" Shiraishi asked.  
"I used to hold them for my Choir. It's rather useful to see where everyone stands and how much they improved."  
Shiraishi blinked.  
"You didn't participate, yourself?"  
Yukimura laughed. "No. I simply didn't deem it necessary.  
I'm planning to win this one, though."  
Yukimura smiled at Shiraishi.

Shiraishi's eyebrows frowned in concern.  
"Don't overexert yourself. I know you're a bit low on magic, after all."  
A concern that was not needed, really.   
Yukimura's eyes took Shiraishi's in their gaze, holding it fixed to his like a predator captivating his prey.  
"Don't get knocked out too early. You're almost exactly on my opposite end, after all. I'm rather curious as to how far you'd get against me."  
Yukimura's provocation, however seemed to not have landed, to his inner dismay.  
Shiraishi put his hand to his forehead, let out a breath.  
"Again with that arrogance..."  
"No, this is just me knowing how much I can do."  
Shiraishi side-eyed him.  
"Was that the same against Nanjiroh?"  
Yukimura folded his arms together, smile turning more neutral.  
"He was masking his own magic power. And even so, he really should have been vanquished at that first blow, no matter what barrier he'd set up."  
Shiraishi laughed. "Well, we'll see."  
"See you in the finals," Yukimura said.   
"I'll try. See you."

Yukimura wasn't planning to expend too much power. Though, it would be good to see where he stood compared to the others, he thought.  
Yukimura walked over to the table with matching runes, found his opponent to be the Dryad.  
"Ah, you're the one who used the mute spell on the teacher on the first day?"  
Yukimura sighed. Is this what he'd be known for?  
"Yes, that was me."  
"Thank you so much for doing that... My friend almost fainted when she heard that."  
Yukimura blinked once, then smiled at her. "You're welcome."   
Even though he mostly panicked himself.

Yukimura held out his hand, smiled at her. "Let's have a good match."  
The Dryad smiled back and shook it. "Sure."

"Round one is now starting. You get half a minute to make a barrier. Go for it."  
A barrier opened around the rune, encompassing the two of them. It was enchanted with a healing and protecting spell, as it should be. It was meant to be a friendly match, after all. Which meant Yukimura could go all-out, if he so wanted.

Yukimura put up a multi-layered barrier, while the Dryad put up a slightly simpler one.  
"You know Holy magic?" she asked as she watched his barrier form.  
"I do. What about it?"  
"No, it's just a bit rare for someone to have Holy in their alignment..."  
"Is that so?" He hadn't thought that would be the case. After all, he'd known of quite a few humans with it. Perhaps the times had changed...  
"Yeah! Most are far descendants of Ancient gods... The alignment is recessive, after all."  
Far descendants of Ancient gods, all of them had been, strictly speaking. But they were families of priests and healers who weren't concerned with their lineage, after all, they hadn't been too rare...  
"Recessive?"  
"It means both of the parents had to carry the gene for the alignment, even though they don't have to show it themselves."  
Hmm. So people had finally found out how their traits were passed down.  
"And even then," she continued, "it's always the second alignment. There's just no being with Holy as their primary alignment, I guess."

Yukimura was about to ask her about Angels, when a voice broke through the barrier.  
"You have two minutes. Start!"

The Dryad summoned a few vines to try to pierce his outer barriers, but he easily deflected them with a sprite of light.

A storm of razor-sharp green leaves pierced his outer barriers, breaking two of them.  
How nostalgic, Yukimura thought. Yanagi used to do these too, though at a slightly higher level. This girl seemed to be plenty powerful, after all.

He noticed his foothold had started to shift. Roots and branches started constricting his barriers, and he had to exert a bit of power to keep them intact.  
Oh dear.  
She'd attack directly from the front as soon as he let his guard down in fending off the growth under his feet, he knew.  
A smile crept up to his face.  
You're pretty good, miss Dryad.

He put up an invisible shield of light with a flick of his finger, pretending to be concerned about the branches slowly making their way around his legs, waited for her to strike.  
The branches around his legs twitched.  
She collided with the shield he set up, breaking at least two barriers of her own, and in the same instant he disintegrated the branches constricting his legs.  
She hastily pulled back and started up her storm of leaves again.

Let's leave it at this, shall we?  
Yukimura pulled his arms to make a small magical arrow, just enough to break her remaining barriers.

In a single moment, a tree grew between the two, quickly shaping into a shield.  
A bit more power then. His arrow easily tore through the tree, through her outer, inner barriers, and evaporated on the dispelling of her final barrier.  
"It's my win."

The barrier around them slowly dispelled as well, and he watched her rune disappear.

He looked around him, at the matches in progress. It turned out the match barriers were opaque, so even if someone decided to use their real form, nobody but their opponent would know. Interesting.

"It was a good match," Yukimura said to the Dryad.  
"Thank you... You're really strong with Holy magic... I almost don't want to know how you are with your primary alignment. May I know what it is?"  
Yukimura smiled. "My primary alignment is a secret for now."  
She pouted.  
"Aww."  
"You'll come to discover it during Mythology, don't worry."  
This sprouted her attention.  
"You're the only one of your race in the class?"  
"That's right. Though it's not like there are many doubles, are there?"  
"There aren't," she laughed.

"Will the winners move one circle in?"

"See you again, miss Dryad."  
She waved at him.  
"Call me Laura~   
See you, Yukimura."  
He briefly smiled at her before moving a ring closer to the centre, gracefully moving over the table with his rune on.

He was glad to see Shiraishi had won his match as well.

"So you're my next opponent. Interesting."  
A man in human form stood before him, hand on his hip.  
"How so?" Yukimura asked.  
"'Cause you're one of the two to cast the mute spell onto the teacher."  
...He'd be known for that, after all. Yukimura sighed once more.  
"Plus," the man continued, "your match left completely no scratches of your own. Are you by any chance a Holy magic user?"  
"I am, though you've reached that conclusion by the wrong arguments."  
The man thought he had healed himself, undoubtedly.  
"You'll be the first Holy user I win against."  
Yukimura couldn't help but chuckle at his words.  
Misplaced pride. His favourite to break.

The match barrier enveloped the two, and they started making their own barriers.  
The man undid his human form, sprouting ash-grey fur and crimson eyes.  
"You're a Hellhound?"  
"Yeah. Don't tell anyone else, though, not everyone likes the gatekeepers of the Demonic Kingdoms."  
A bit like Shiraishi. Hmm.  
"I won't," he reassured him. It would do him no good to be a hypocrite, wouldn't it?  
The Hound let out a growl that sounded like a relieved sigh.  
"Thanks, man. I'm Simeon, by the way.  
'Think you might want to dispel your human form as soon as we're starting. I don't want to win too easily after all."  
"No thanks," Yukimura said, smiling.  
"Wha-  
But it's harder to use magic when you're in human form!  
Are you giving up already?!"

Yukimura chuckled. "Who said I was giving up?"

"Start!"

Fire scorched his barrier. The Hound came at him with a lot more ferocity than the Dryad had done, preferring a simple offence over tactics. It's true that, if one had enough power, even the greatest magician could be in a pinch.  
Sure, he was strong, but Yukimura was no idiot, nor was he by any means weak.  
He stepped aside as the Hound lunged at him, and delivered an easy blow to the back of his barrier.  
"You're fast," Simeon growled.

Yukimura's attack broke one of Simeon's barriers, but before Yukimura knew it, the Hound was gone.  
He briefly weighted the possibilities, before barely dodging an attack from the rear.  
Short-distance teleportation, huh.

With increasing speed Simeon switched positions, attacking him from all sides.   
Yukimura felt the air within the barrier thin from the columns of fire the Hound was spouting.  
The sheer pressure of the fire caused his outer barriers to disperse. Actually, not only his outer barriers, the floor, too, was starting to melt. Steps of magma were left in the Hound's wake.  
Yukimura dodged once more, and discovered his foothold was trying to burn his shoes away.  
A misstep...

The Hound's ears peaked forward in surprise.  
"How-- How are you still fine?! Shouldn't you be crying out in pain?"  
"Who knows."

Yukimura focused a bit of his magic around his feet, and as it pooled under them like Holy water, it healed the floor. That would buy him enough time to hide the fact that the fire did near nothing to him. 

"Using real fire, that's underhanded."  
The match barrier could only dispel that much of physical damage, after all. It'd be unfair to the rest of the participants.

Fortunately for Yukimura, the Hound's attack pattern was pretty simple.   
He stepped aside once more and buried a blade of light in the Hound's jaws as he appeared again, flinging him a few metres through the air.

"You have a lot of power, but your magic is too simple."

Yukimura watched Simeon's barriers break down, until the final one rebounded.  
"You might want to change back to your human form before the match barrier fades."

Yukimura smiled at the growling Hound on the floor, watched as he changed back.  
The undoing of the barrier around them made a small wind quickly fill up the thin air within the barrier's space to its usual level.  
Most finished parties startled at the small implosion, yet Yukimura remained unfazed.

"Are you alright?"  
Yukimura walked over to the Hound, stretched out a hand to help him upright.  
Simeon groaned and took his hand.   
"Thanks. You're pretty good. Hadn't met anyone yet who could break through all my barriers at once."  
"Thank you. You should try to vary your attacks a bit more, I think. It was fairly easy to pin down your position and weak point."  
Simeon scowled.  
"Tch."  
"Now, now, I'm only giving you tips."  
"I know, I know. It's just a bit frustrating to lose to someone not even dispelling his human form."  
"I'll spar with you any time you want, if that makes you feel better. My name is Yukimura, by the way, I don't think I had told you yet."  
The Hound flashed him a smirk.  
"Thanks for the offer. Though next time I'll win."  
"You're welcome. Though, I wouldn't be that sure about winning," he added, smiling.

The numbers were steadily dwindling, right now the class was down to four people.  
Shiraishi waved at him, also having won his battle.  
Was it an illusion or did his eyes glow faintly violet?

The class was getting rather anxious of Yukimura. They should be, as he was the only one alongside Shiraishi who didn't have traces of changing their form.  
Besides...

"Did the floor just melt?!"  
"What was that implosion..."

Yukimura chuckled.  
"It seems there are lots of strong people in here," he said.  
"You tell me," came from Shiraishi. "Though there's lots of waste in everyone's movements."

The professor's eyes as well were fixed on the molten floor.  
"Next round! Don't worry about destroying the floor, by the way, it'll heal itself. Of course, there's also a healing spell set around my table, use it if you want to."

A darker-skinned woman stood before Yukimura. He saw she was a minor Wind by the way the edges of her being seemed to drift away.  
"U-Um... I'm Ne-o-gah... Let's have a good match?"  
"My name is Yukimura. And, sure."

In the time to place barriers, she threw up as many as she could. Layer after layer piled up, weaved in intricate patterns, spread over space, and by the time the match was starting she had made a defensive masterpiece.

Yukimura fired an arrow, but it halted at the outermost barrier. This was also a valid strategy, he supposed. Ne-o-gah sent blades of wind after him, rapid enough for him to be unable to dodge them.  
Her footsteps were light as feathers, and as soon as he turned to look, she was gone again.

Yukimura breathed in, raising a ring of light around him. It wasn't enough to pierce even her weakest barrier, but perhaps it would distract her enough for him to get a piercing arrow in.  
He sent it out around him, readying an arrow, and indeed he heard the crackling of contact.  
It took him but a split second to find her, ready to snipe away.

However, when their eyes met, the Wind startled.  
"Nonono--"

In the blink of an eye, the Wind disappeared, returning to her true form.  
With increased ferocity, the air around him started swirling, putting pressure on his own defences.  
He lowered his arrow in favour of focusing on holding his own.

An untouchable enemy, hidden behind many strong barriers.  
The winds around him weren't that powerful, but he could still feel the remnants of the magic used by her barriers. There was a reason she was in the best four.

On top of that, Ne-o-gah was taking advantage of his shaking barriers by sending piercing gusts at him. Normally, those wouldn't have been enough to shatter any of them, but combined with her whirling winds it was a dangerous combination.

It was no use trying to point out an origin from them, Yukimura knew. She was all around him, cornering him in all senses of the word.

Yukimura closed his eyes. He let a small wave of Holy energy travel through the space, let it get caught by the winds.  
He followed the traces it left, watched where it went. Even if he tried for an arrow right now, he would fail as there was no solid target to hit.

Fuu and Zan, huh.  
He stuck his arm out and focused on the tiny droplets of Holy energy floating around.  
In a flash of light, they expanded and pierced right through the Wind's defences.

A being that's anywhere is the easiest target to hit, after all.

The barrier flashed white. Yukimura breathed out and let the light envelop him. All he needed to do was hit everywhere, and naturally everywhere he had hit.  
Ne-o-gah's barriers were easily bypassed and her innermost barrier shattered without much trouble.

When the match barrier dispelled, Yukimura opened his eyes again.

"You're good," Yukimura praised the Wind, who returned to her human form. "I would have been in quite a pinch if I didn't know how to handle this."  
He gently smiled at Ne-o-gah, who shuffled and blushed a bit.  
"T-Thanks..."

Yukimura moved into the final ring, under the admiration of at least half the people present.  
He briefly waved at Ne-o-gah, before turning to face the professor.  
"So it's you two left, huh. Who would've thought the first ones to break the rules would also be the most magically adept?"  
Yukimura sighed. "It's not like I broke the rules because I wanted to."  
"Same here."  
Yukimura turned upon hearing Shiraishi's voice, folded his arms together.

"It's you against me, huh..." Shiraishi said, folding his arms together.  
"Good to see you in the finals."   
Yukimura's eyes met Shiraishi's, a silent challenge within.  
"Don't think you'll get an easy win from me," Shiraishi said.  
Yukimura smiled.  
"Don't think I'll lose that easily."

The barrier opened, and Shiraishi wasted no time in undoing his human form.  
Yukimura read the signature of Shiraishi's barriers as he was creating his own.  
Dark, Earth, traces of Fire.   
And above all, his barriers were perfectly structured, not as strong as Ne-o-gah's, but both defensively and magically efficient.

"Start!"

Within a flash, a sphere of darkness encompassed Yukimura, stealing his sight.  
He could usually see in the dark, but this was...  
A small chill went up his spine, though he didn't quite understand why.  
He'd seen a Demon's darkness before, but never had he gotten a fright by complete dark...

Yukimura fended off those irrelevant thoughts and set out a ball of light, dispelling a bit of the darkness.  
He let it send out a wave, and Shiraishi's shape briefly lit up.

In a split second, Yukimura readied an arrow, but for a single moment, sleepiness caught hold of him. He quickly shook the magically induced sleep off, but lost his aim, much to his frustration.

"You're the second one who's been able to hold my dream off," Shiraishi's disembodied voice came. Disembodied it was, but Shiraishi was still in a single position. He knew this from experience... and from the fact he could still hear his voice with his ears, rather than with his mind.  
"Of course," Yukimura said. "I would have no business being an Angel if I couldn't."  
Shiraishi's breath was distorted.  
"I'd hoped for you to take a small nap, though."  
Yukimura let out a slightly shaky laugh.  
"Still trying to make me sleep?"  
A ringing chuckle was his response.  
"Of course."

The darkness closed in on him, spreading through his barriers like a poison. He had to hurry.  
Yukimura made a hail of Holy droplets, watched where Shiraishi halted them and fired an arrow.  
But he heard a beat of wings, and knew Shiraishi had dodged it in time.  
Considering Shiraishi's most likely courses of escape, he sent out another wave to his left.  
Nothing.  
"Miss," the dark whispered in his ear.  
Yukimura sent out a ring of light around himself to catch him, but failed to hit anything.

One, two, three rings, all hitting nothing but dark. Had he taken to the sky? Yukimura raised his arm, a fountain of spears drawing lines across the black. None of them struck his target.  
Where was he? From where would he come to attack him?  
From the ground rose five pillars of cold light, shivering, sending out waves of light meant to protect him from wherever Shiraishi would be coming from, but the dark wasted no time in eating away at his pillars.  
Yukimura bit his lip, raising a ring above his head, opening his hand as stars rained down within the barrier.

They all got swallowed by the dark.

Fear. It was an emotion meant to convey danger. Yukimura had no need for it. There was no reason for an Angel like him to feel fear here, as there was nothing that could danger his existence in any way.  
Nothing at all.  
Calm down, Seiichi...  
Closing his eyes, Yukimura took a deep breath. An effort to calm it, to calm himself.

The darkness was suffocating.

This... was a problem.  
From the dark, vines came, thorned vines.  
Rather than aiming for Yukimura directly, they filled Yukimura's movement space and curled around his limbs. The thorns pierced his barriers, his skin, and trying to shake them off or disintegrate them only strengthened their hold.

The darkness seeped in. Yukimura trembled.

"Sleep."  
It beckoned, as its hands covered his eyes.  
Yukimura managed a chuckle.  
"I refuse."

Yukimura could feel it drooping in his veins, pulsating in the ghost of his wings. He tried to shake it off, to banish it like one might try a memory. But it went deeper than he had thought, out of his reach.

Very quickly, Yukimura was left with only his inner barriers to defend him, against an impending finishing blow.  
This wouldn't do, he thought.  
He wasn't about to lose this.  
As an Angel he couldn't.

Yukimura stretched out his arm, letting the vines gnaw at it, and gathered his energy. Brute force it would be, then.  
The darkness dispelled under the sheer light radiating from Yukimura's body, and as he caught hold of Shiraishi's shape, he aimed his power in a lance.

A flash of white filled the space.  
He felt several barriers breaking, and a ripple in the match barrier.  
"Oh dear, I might have overdone it a bit..."  
Even in the face of this power, Shiraishi held out for a good fifteen seconds, all his effort into keeping his barriers intact.

The class was left to watch in silence as the damaged barrier broke, and Shiraishi barely made it in time in changing.

"That was... impressive..." Shiraishi was still catching his breath.  
"Thank you. You're also pretty strong."  
Aside from some droplets of sweat, deeper breaths and the swirling trace of magic around him, you wouldn't think Yukimura just launched one of his mid-high power range attacks.  
In fact, he hadn't needed to change to his true form, even with Shiraishi.  
Though, for a moment, he had been close. If the darkness hadn't cleared up...

"What... low on power... Hah..."  
"I can't lose. I hope you can understand that."  
Yukimura would have liked to have won with the exact amount of necessary power. He'd have liked to, but unexpected emotions had caught him off guard. It wouldn't happen again.

"Seriously... I get now why you felt you didn't have to come here."  
Yukimura chuckled softly.  
"Do you, now? This wasn't even close to the power I used against the Headmaster."  
"Wait, wait, wait," the teacher called, "you sparred against the Headmaster?"  
Yukimura tilted his head.  
"Yes?"  
"...And you're still alive to tell the tale?"

Yukimura laughed somewhat bitterly.  
"It was not like he took me seriously. I hardly managed to break his only barrier, even while he wasn't even attacking at all."  
As an Angel, he shouldn't be able to lose to anyone, though... No matter if he'd been low on power. Seriously, what happened to him?  
"That's... You broke the Samurai Zone?"  
"I think so? What about it?"  
"Seriously, why are you here. If you're telling the truth here, you broke a very high level technique..."  
"...But there's still a lot of wasted magic," Shiraishi said. "I'm sure that's something to improve on."  
"That's right," Yukimura said. "Using magic and mastering magic are two different things, as well. I had to resort to using pure force against Shiraishi, and I was definitely impressed by his barrier structure.  
I'll be coming to the lessons, miss, even if it's only to work on the basics a bit more."  
The professor sighed.  
"...I guess...  
Class is over for today, I think I'm going to take a look at your recordings. Take things in. Good luck, everyone, and see you next week."  
And with that, the lesson was over.


	7. Seedling

Kirihara felt like he was somehow getting adjusted to this college thing. He'd already burnt the class schedule in his memory, not wanting to miss out on a single one. Sure, the moving classes thing was annoying as hell, but for the first time in forever he actually felt like paying attention.

...Hell is actually a place that exists now, huh.  
He looked next to him, where Sengoku was making conversation with some girls. He was supposed to be a demon, but...  
His way of speaking was laid back, his face a bit baboon-like but friendly and entirely un-evil.  
Well, he had to live with it. Then he wouldn't be friends with an all-powerful evil demon. Well, better that way, haha...  
Wait, who was to say Sengoku wasn't all-powerful? That he seemed approachable and nice and realistic shouldn't mean he wasn't strong!  
He doubted Sengoku was stronger than Yukimura, but Yukimura was like... unearthly strong. Maybe Sengoku was 'just' hellishly strong!  
Well... he did say Shiraishi was stronger than him... But Incubus or whatever, Sengoku was still a Demon, you know!  
A being of fire and brimstone and destruction and untamed spirit... The most powerful enemies of the entire game that you find only in the final area!

But... they should always have one fatal weakness. One that'd allow Kirihara to defeat him and keep him in check. And if this was a magic school...

Sengoku waved at the girls, before turning to him. This was his chance to ask.

"Hey, Sengoku. You have any course you're bad at?"  
He leaned on his arms resting on the table. Sengoku seemed to be a honest type, he'd have no trouble exposing his weaknesses.  
Sengoku briefly glanced at his surroundings, rubbed the underside of his nose.  
"Of course, I don't~"  
"Heee, is that so."  
Kirihara looked at him sceptically. There was no way there was no course he was bad at. Everyone was bad at something, right? Even he himself had maths and English as his worst subjects. Unless...  
"You know, that ain't going to work with the girls."  
Sengoku raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"  
"If being good at things worked with them I'd have a girlfriend loooong ago!"  
He blinked. Blinked, before softly chuckling.

Heat rose to Kirihara's cheeks.  
"I'm saying it's true!  
I'm good at tennis, I'm good at games!  
...Well maybe not games as much since Zaizen usually-- No, no, nevermind!"  
"It's okay, I believe you."  
Sengoku tried to straighten out his face, but Kirihara still noticed the edge of his mouth curling up.  
"Don't. laugh."  
A chuckle, much to his frustration.  
"Sorry, sorry. But you know, everyone has things they're good and bad at. People just want to show their best sides to people, but that doesn't mean others will like it when they do that."  
"Well from the beginning I'm not that interested in girls anyway so I don't really care but...  
How about Shiraishi? He looks completely like a good guy, what's the course he's bad at?"  
An incredibly betraying feeling made its way onto Sengoku's face, as he stumbled over his words.  
"A-Ah, um... Uh.  
Hm.  
Shiraishi..."  
Sengoku fell into a deliberating silence for a whole entire moment, before slowly shaking his head.  
"What?! Shiraishi doesn't have any course he's bad at?!"  
"Yeah, there's no course he scored particularly worse in than the others... Or that he spent more time on. To be honest, I'm a bit jealous~"  
Kirihara's mouth fell agape in astonishment.  
"That's unfaaaaair! How can there be people like that?"  
"Right? He showed me his grade list in high school... All 8 out of 10, except Potions, there he scored a 9. Even used to complain when he got anything below that! But Shiraishi puts in effort night and day for these kinds of things, so I can't really envy him."  
"Even then! It's unfair! Suffer like the rest of us, damn it!"  
He frustratedly banged his fist on the table, hard enough to shake it.  
"W-Well, well, let's calm down..."  
Sengoku nervously held up his hands, but when Kirihara glared at him, he wasn't fazed at all.  
"Hmph."  
As if he was possessed by some Demon-- wait. Uh.  
...As if he was possessed by something, Sengoku actually managed to keep his cool and smile at him.  
"But, you know? Shiraishi's bad at other things," he said, putting his finger to his lips. "He really isn't as good at everything as he seems to be."  
"He better be."  
Kirihara briefly leaned backwards, before leaning his head on his hands on the table in silent contemplation.  
"I wonder if Yukimura's bad at anything."  
"He's got a bad case of arrogance, that's for sure~"  
"It's...  
It's true but don't put it like that!"  
Kirihara pouted.

Sengoku chuckled merrily, and try as he might, Kirihara couldn't stop his laughter from ringing out, either.

* * *

It was strange, Yukimura thought.

The Academy was large, spacious even for a humanoid building. Undoubtedly, those open spaces reaching throughout the building were meant for flying people like him to pass though. If he really had to reveal himself, and everyone knew what he was, only then he'd ever consider using them. Walking is inconvenient, yes, but Yukimura didn't feel like leaving himself exposed to the eyes of the masses. Who knew what intentions lie behind them.

Still, he had to appreciate the structurework. There were dark halls for the people that needed it, moats and pools for the waterfolk, even rooms with adjustable temperature, judging from the ice that was forming on an inner window.  
He had nothing but praise to consider for the thought that went into it. So much that he'd almost forgotten that, because it was a humanoid-modelled building, the inside wasn't all there was to it.  
That is, until he saw Shiraishi pensively looking at the schedule and the map.

Reluctantly, Yukimura opened his mouth. "Next up is Herbology, right?"  
Shiraishi looked up from his map to meet gaze with Yukimura, and he briefly wished he hadn't spoken up.  
"That's right. Seems we're gathering out of the building today... I wonder what plants we're going to see."  
"Ah, Shiraishi, you like plants?" He couldn't say if he was pleased by this surprise or conflicted, though his voice begged to differ.  
Shiraishi smiled.  
"That's right, so I'm wondering how the course is gonna be. If we're gathering somewhere outside..."

They found themselves in an outdoor amphitheatre, adorned by various climbing plants. So the academy had something like this, too...  
Shiraishi easily took place next to him. Yukimura let him. It was clear the sitting arrangements remained rather stationary, and Shiraishi didn't seem like he particularly wanted to change places, so Yukimura had simply resigned to his fate.

The teacher was fiddling with the vines on his clothes, perhaps he was a bit worried for the interest of the class, judging by the rumour around him. When the teacher's gaze caught his, Yukimura sent him a reassuring smile. With Yukimura there, there shouldn't be anything for him to worry about. Despite being of the water choirs, Yukimura's held a longstanding fascination for plantlife, after all.  
When the teacher's gaze trailed off again, Yukimura took a good look at the open sky.

From where he was sitting, he could observe the exterior of the academy as well. It was a surprising mixture of both unfamiliar and novel shapes, as well as a hint of something very nostalgic to Yukimura. Was it coincidence he recognised elements of the architectural format of the old Romans?  
He'd have to get a good look and sketch it later.

He materialised his notebook and a pencil, started noting the date.  
Later, he reminded himself.

The first half of the lecture was the obligatory course introduction, Erlas was the teacher's name, about what families of plants they'd be discussing, how their affinities were decided, how they grew. They'd be graded on reports they wrote on the flora. 

"But, you know, there's nothing more important than hands on experience. That's why we're going to take a walk around the garden!"  
Yukimura raised his eyebrows.

Apparently Shiraishi was more observant than he thought he'd be, shifting in his seat to face Yukimura.  
"Are you looking forward to it?"  
Yukimura looked away, cracked a smile. "I guess."  
Within the whirr of people getting up and the rumour it brought, he heard Shiraishi laugh softly.  
"I'm glad."

"Well then, let's get going!"

Much to Yukimura's delight, the garden was quite vast and multi-faceted.  
There were several different land plots with different soils and general climates, an orchard, and even a magical greenhouse for the real exotic plants.  
Feeling the air around him get dry and hot, he assumed they were reaching the warmer climates.  
Shiraishi was next to him as expected, though between the brief introductions given by Erlas he noticed his gaze travelling to a certain few more peculiar plants. Not to say Yukimura wasn't taking in the feast, either--

"Ah, this is Snow Lily, isn't it?"  
Yukimura halted his pass and crouched down to look at a pale blue flower, running his fingers over the petals.  
Indeed, the petals felt cold to the touch, Yukimura noticed. He wasn't mistaken.  
"That's right. I'm surprised it grows here, considering it's a desert plant."  
Shiraishi joined in, crouching next to him, to look at the rarity.  
"You're pretty knowledgeable, aren't you, Shiraishi? Most people assume it's a tundra plant because of its name."  
"If it grew in the tundra, it would break. It's too cold there.  
By the way, did you know its pollen is poisonous?"  
Yukimura blinked.  
"I didn't, actually."  
"Much like frostbite, it numbs where it touches. Of course, ingesting the raw plant won't do you much good either, burning the throat and the vocal chords, essentially freezing over your stomach until it spreads through your blood... With lowered heartrate, paralysis and tissue death as consequence. It's very treatable ad the effect only sets in slowly, though-- Ah, I'm rambling, sorry."  
Shiraishi put his hand behind his head, face in an awkward smile.  
Passionate, hmm?  
"Mmh... You seem to know a lot, don't you? Then, do you know what this flower is?"  
Yukimura gestured to a translucent flower near the Lily.  
Shiraishi's answer was tentative even when Yukimura could see him reach through the ends of his memory.  
"...I don't. Do you?"  
Shiraishi's gaze was full of attention as he asked Yukimura to tell him more.  
Yukimura smiled. "I do. You see, this is Morgana--"

"Ahem."  
They got a fair few creeped out stares from the class, while the teacher folded his arms over each other. With no anger in his eyes, he spoke up. "I'd appreciate it if we could go on."  
"Ah, sure."  
Yukimura raised himself, watched Shiraishi get up from crouching as well, and smiled at Erlas.  
"Sorry for causing you trouble."  
"The garden is open during the day, if you really want, you could visit here in your free time. We're looking for volunteers, too."  
Yukimura spared a glance at Shiraishi, then briefly at the greens around him. "That sounds rather good, actually. I'll take you up on that offer, professor."  
"So do I," Shiraishi joined, "There seem to be a few little ones that could use an extra bit of care."  
"Really? That would be a great help. Please drop by later to confirm your participation, by all means. After all, there's a few benefits to be gained from volunteering that need to be registered.  
But for now, let's continue the tour, shall we?"  
Yukimura chuckled.  
"Sure."

Though, even as the two walked along the group, Yukimura whispered the names and stories of some remarkable plants to Shiraishi, while Shiraishi told him a bit more about their more interesting scientific and magical properties. Yukimura couldn't deny it was fascinating to hear about those, no. And Shiraishi, listened with attention to the histories and tales from his side, even asking him questions about the people involved. Yukimura was more than pleased.  
Finally someone to lend him an ear.

"I think I'm rather going to enjoy this course," Yukimura said, as he started to recognise the point where they started the tour.  
Shiraishi smiled. "Me too. I hope you'll tell me more about the flowers here later?"  
"Well," Yukimura smirked,  
"It can't be helped, it seems."


End file.
